(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Guiqi, from the Tanggu District of Tianjin, was illegally arrested on November 21, 2012. He has been incarcerated in the Tanggu Detention Center ever since.
On July 29, 2013, Mr. Wang's attorneys received a notice of judgment from the Tanggu District Court. It stated that Mr. Wang was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
On August 2, 2013, Mr. Wang and his attorneys appealed the unlawful verdict and requested a public hearing.
Family Persecuted for Peaceful Belief
Mr. Wang was a technician at the Dagu Chemical Plant in Tanggu District. He was a hard-working employee and breadwinner for his family.
After the Chinese communist regime started persecuting Falun Gong 14 years ago, Mr. Wang was arrested multiple times, detained twice for a month, and imprisoned in forced labor camps twice for four years. Now, he is again detained and facing a prison term.
Mr. Wang was arrested on November 21, 2012. His home was ransacked by police officer Li Zhenmin from the Tanggu District Domestic Security Division, as well as Feng Zhiping and Zheng Kaiyan from the Hangzhou Street Police Station, Si Weidong from the Daliangzi Police Station, and personnel from the local Residential Committee.
Mr. Wang's wife, Ms. Yin Guanghua, is also a Falun Gong practitioner. She was arrested in March 2011 and sent to the Zhaojiadi Detention Center. She was secretly sentenced to three and a half years in prison by the Tanggu District Court in November 2011. On December 8, she was sent to the Tianjin Women's Prison, where she is still detained.
The entire family has been put under tremendous emotional and financial pressure as a result of the persecution.
Secret Trial
On March 21, 2013, without informing the family, the Tanggu District Court secretly tried Mr. Wang.
Mr. Wang was not given sufficient time to hire an attorney to represent him. After the trial, he decided to hire attorneys for further defense.
Two attorneys from Beijing representing Mr. Wang went to the Tanggu District Court to review his case on April 25 and May 9, 2013. The court officials refused to let them see his file and told them that his case had already been transferred to the intermediate court.
The attorneys then delivered a legal letter to the court, requesting another hearing for Mr. Wang. Despite numerous phone calls made by the attorneys, court officials did not get back to them.
On July 29, 2013, officials of the Tanggu District Court called Mr. Wang's attorneys and informed them that Mr. Wang had already been sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
The attorneys met with Mr. Wang on August 2, 2013. Afterward, they decided to appeal to the Ganggu District Court. The Second Intermediate People's Court of Tianjin informed Mr. Wang's attorneys to come and review the case.
Mr. Wang's attorneys have requested that the court holds an open trial, so that the defendant's family, friends and relatives can attend.
At present, they still have not received an answer from the court, and the trial date has not been announced.
Related article:
Mr. Wang Guiqi from Tianjin City Arrested Again, Wife Still Imprisoned
