(Minghui.org) Xu Tianpeng, a Fengrun District judge in Tangshan City, has wrongly sentenced a large number of innocent citizens. Among them are many innocent Falun Gong practitioners. Because of the harm Xu brought to these people and their families, the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) listed him as a vicious thug and issued a report about his bad deeds.
Xu has now become very upset and disturbed, and he even complained, “I did all this for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). How did I end up like this?”
Xu, about 50 years old, is the chief judge of the 2nd Criminal Division at Fengrun District Court. In the past several years, he abused the law and wrongly sentenced many Falun Gong practitioners.
He frequently said in court, “No need to notify their families about the trial.” “If you want things to make sense, go to the US.” “This is how I run the court. If you continue talking, it is considered disturbing the court and you will be repelled.”
Below are some of the bad deeds that Xu committed in the past several years. We list 8 cases of Falun Gong practitioners being wrongly convicted by Xu Tianpeng:
Wrongly Sentencing Mr. Yang Guoguang
Mr. Yang Guoguang is a practitioner from Gaotuo Village in Chahe Town. Fengrun District court held a trial for Mr. Yang at 9 a.m. on August 6, 2012.
After the trial started, based on the law, Mr. Yang’s attorney requested twice to have the torture instruments that Mr. Yang wore removed. Xu refused both times and said to the attorney, “You are not authorized to do this.”
The attorney then asked Mr. Yang, “Why were you sent to a forced labor camp in 2000?” Mr. Yang said, “I used to be an alcoholic and often fought with others. After practicing Falun Gong and following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I always tried to be a better person and strove to benefit society. But the police arrested me one day when I was working in the fields in 2000, and sent me to a forced labor camp for a term of more than two years without any reason.”
Xu interrupted Mr. Yang and told his attorney, “Stop prompting the defendant and only talk about things that are relevant to this case.”
The attorney then asked, “How were you arrested on February 25, 2012?” Mr. Yang said, “My family called me asking me to come back home. I returned and saw two cars in front of my apartment. Out of curiosity, I asked them who they were and they said they were from a telecommunication company. However, several of them rushed up to me, took my motorcycle and beat me hard. Nobody showed any ID throughout the process.”
Xu then asked about the informational materials confiscated from Mr. Yang’s home. Mr. Yang said he downloaded them from the Internet. Xu replied mimicking a sarcastic tone from a popular movie, “Oh… see how smart you are.”
By that time, some bystanders in the court room were already annoyed by Xu’s contemptuous behavior. Mr. Yang’s attorney also raised his hands to protest, “Objection. Please do not humiliate my client this way.” He also requested that the video and audio tape of the trial be placed on record. Xu stopped his reckless behavior after that.
When Xu attempted to sentence Mr. Yang, the attorney pointed out that he was abusing the law. He pointed out that there were no laws that banned Falun Gong and the constitution allowed freedom of belief. Based on the legal documents and facts, he proved that nothing Mr. Yang did was illegal, he had broken no laws.
In addition, the attorney proposed to seek to sue Xu, as well as the police agents who arrested Mr. Yang. In the end, Xu had no choice but to adjourn the trial.
For details of the court proceedings, please read: “Defense Attorney Stops Judge from Humiliating Falun Gong Practitioner in Court—The Real Story of Yang Guoguang's Illegal Trial in Tangshan City” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/8/20/135072.html
After being detained for three more months, Mr. Yang was sentenced to four and a half years of imprisonment without legal procedure.
For more details of the persecution of Mr. Yang Guoguang, please read: An Innocent Person Sentenced, His Family Sues the Presiding Judge
Wrongly Sentencing Mr. Li Yushu
Mr. Li Yushu is a practitioner in the 11th Community of Fengrun District. Fengrun District Court tried him at 9 a.m. on August 28, 2012. After the clerk read the court rules, Xu Tianpeng repeated the rules to reemphasize them and told everyone to obey them. He claimed any violators would be punished with a fine of 1000 yuan and a detention of 15 days.
After Mr. Li arrived at the court, both attorneys requested to remove the torture instruments he was wearing based on the law. Xu abruptly refused and told them not to mention this again.
Attorney Jiang Tianyong stated that, according to article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights passed in the UN in 1948, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Xu stopped Attorney Jiang before he could finish and told him sarcastically, “We do not follow international law here. You need to go to other places to discuss this, such as the US.” He repeatedly said similar things.
Whenever Mr. Li’s attorney mentioned there were no laws that officially banned Falun Gong, Xu stopped him, “This is not the place to discuss this. Go to the National People's Congress and speak there.”
For more details of the court proceedings, please read: Mr. Li Yushu Tried in Fengrun District Court in Tangshan City
After the trial finished, an 80-year-old lady was weeping as she walked out of the court. She was so upset that she had a heart attack. She said, “I thought court is a place where we can find justice. Now we are even not allowed to speak here. I am so sad that people were wronged and cannot speak out.” After another elderly man heard her story, he became furious, “The CCP is so reckless that it does not obey the law.” “It seems every one of us needs to be determined like Falun Gong practitioners.”
Wrongly Sentencing Ms. He Suying
Ms. He Suing is a 52-year-old practitioner in the 21st Community of Fengrun District. Xu tried her on the afternoon of August 28. Ms. He did not hire any attorneys and read the plea herself, telling everyone it was not illegal or wrong to believe in Falun Gong.
Xu Tianpeng abruptly interrupted her and announced to adjourn the trial. The trial lasted less than half an hour.
After Ms. He was arrested and sent to the detention center on February 25, 2012, she soon had a severe heart attack. Her heart stopped beating twice in one hour and she was in a life-threatening condition all the time. Therefore, she had to carry a heartbeat monitor 24 hours a day. She also looked weak when reading the plea in court.
When Ms. He's family requested a parole based on her poor health condition, Xu denied it and immediately stopped the trial. Her family members were very upset, collapsed on the ground and cried in sadness.
For more details about the persecution of Ms. He Suying, please read: Ms. He Suying Diagnosed with Heart Disease in Detention Center
Wrongly Sentencing Ms. Zhang Guizhi and Ms. Zhang Mingfeng
Ms. Zhang Guizhi, a 68-year-old retired teacher, lives at Nanwangzhuang Village in Laozhuangzi Town of Fengrun District. Ms. Zhang Mingfeng, 60 years old, lives at Shawuzhuang Village of Laozhuangzi Town. When these two practitioners distributed truth-clarification materials at Xiaozheng Village of Fengdengwu Town on April 4, 2012, plainclothes agents from Fengdengwu Police Station arrested them.
Fengrun District Court officials held a secret trial for these two practitioners on August 20, 2012. In the court, Ms. Zhang Guizhi said, “I am determined in practicing Falun Gong because I have benefited from it. I did not break the law and after searching all the legal documents I could not find any documents or laws stating that Falun Gong was officially banned.”
“The constitution gives citizens freedom of belief. By following the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I am improving my mind and body so that I can be more beneficial to society. It is wrong to sentence Falun Gong practitioners based on belief.”
When Ms. Zhang was defending for herself, Xu interrupted her many times and stopped her. He then stopped the trial.
For more details about the court proceedings, please read: Fengrun District Court in Tangshan Falsely Accuses Innocent Women
After the family members of these two practitioners heard about the trial, they went to the court officials and asked about this. The officials said they only needed to notify these two practitioners about the trials, not their family members.
These family members were very angry upon hearing this. They have hired an attorney from Beijing and sued Xu as well as other officials for their unlawful deeds. The lawsuit documents have been submitted to the Disciplinary Inspection Division of Fengrun Court, Fengrun People's Congress, Fengrun Procuratorate, Fengrun Commission for Discipline Inspection, and Fengrun 610 Office.
For more details about the persecution of the two elderly practitioners, please read: Petition Calls for the Release of Two Senior Falun Gong Practitioners
Wrongly Sentencing Mr. Wang Xiwen
Mr. Wang Xiwen, a practitioner from Fengrun District hired attorney Li Jinglin from Haosheng Law Firm in Beijing to represent him. When Li Jinglin came to Fengrun Court on the morning of July 21, 2009, to review Mr. Wang's files, he waited for more than one hour before meeting with Xu.
Xu then told Mr. Li he had to provide photocopy of his ID card. According to attorney Li, he had been an attorney for 20 years and it was the first time he was requested to provide a copy of his ID card.
After Mr. Li photocopied his ID card, Xu said he had to check his attorney license again although he just did it the day before. Mr. Li had to give his license to Xu again and waited for a long time. Xu used several excuses and in the end attorney Li still could not access Mr. Wang's files.
During the defense, attorney Li pointed out Xu's many unlawful activities including not allowing him to meet with his defendant, restricting the attorney's access to the defendant's file, threatening the attorney, and depriving the attorney of independent defense.
Fengrun District Court held a trial for Mr. Wang at 2 p.m. on September 3, 2009. Because most of the seats had been occupied by police and 610 Office agents, very few family members or relatives of Mr. Wang could attend.
Wrongly Sentencing Mr. Jia Yuanfeng
Fengrun District Court tried practitioner Mr. Jia Yuanfeng at 9:30 a.m. on September 11, 2008. Mr. Jiang’s attorney requested to meet his client before the trial, but court officials denied it using the Paralympic Games as an excuse.
During the trial, Xu interrupted the attorney many times. When the attorney indicated it was unlawful to do so, Xu said, “This is how our court operates. If you complain more, it is disturbing the court order and you will be repelled.”
Wrongly Sentencing Ms. Ling Yun
Ling Yun was not a practitioner, but she was arrested by police for being sympathetic to practitioners. Fengrun District Court tried her on June 22, 2009.
Although this was supposed to be a public trial, no bystanders were allowed to enter the court room, even Ms. Ling ’s mother and husband were blocked from entering. Inside the court room were only Ms. Ling Yun, several judges including Xu, and Ma Qiuping, and an attorney appointed by court officials who agreed to support them.
Because Ms. Ling’s mother and husband wanted to enter, they knocked on the door. Xu called out loudly from the court room, “If you knock on the door again, you will be handcuffed.”
Xu Tianpeng Wrongly Sentenced at least 12 Practitioners
During many of the trials held on practitioners, Xu often stopped by calling for an adjournment of the trial. When the practitioners’ family members asked him when the trial would resume, Xu and police agents told them a trial was ended when it is adjourned. When the practitioners’ family reasoned with them, police agents drove them away or beat them.
Xu also ignored all their attorneys’ defense and did not release any practitioners although they were innocent.
In this way, Xu wrongly sentenced many practitioners: Mr. Li Yushu to 10 years, Mr. Gu Youwen to 7 years, Mr. Yang Guoguang to 4 and half years, Ms. He Suying to 4 years, Mr. Wang Xiwen to 4 years, Mr. Jia Yuanfeng to 3 years, Mr. Zhang Weizhong to 2 years, and Ling Yun to 3 years.
He also sentenced the following practitioners without holding a trial or notifying their families: Mr. Xu Jie to 7 years, Ms. Zhang Mingfeng to 3 years, Ms. Zhang Guizhi to 4 years, and Ms. Deng Xiuyan to 4 and a half years.
When these practitioners’ family members asked Xu for the verdicts, he replied arrogantly, “Verdicts will not be given to the family, never.”
Xu Tianpeng Has Been Sued
Xu Tianpeng has been recently sued for the following items:
1) Forcing Falun Gong practitioners to give up their belief
2) Wrongly sentencing practitioners with crimes he made up, as well as humiliating and swearing at practitioners.
3) Abusing his authority in sentencing practitioners, as well as seeking revenge or taking other actions to block victims’ family from appealing.
Contact Information
Xu Tianpeng, chief judge of the 2nd Criminal Division Chief Judge at Fengrun District Court, +86-315-5155522 (Office)
