(Minghui.org) The Xihu District Court in Benxi, Liaoning Province, sentenced nine Falun Gong practitioners on April 4, 2013. The practitioners all appealed. The following month, a secret session was held in the Benxi Intermediate Court. The practitioners were then transferred to the Shenyang Women's Prison on May 28.
The practitioners' families were not informed about the second session and only discovered the practitioners had been transferred when they went to visit them and bring them clothes. Their sentences ranged from a minimum of 3 years to 7 1/2 years. They are all innocent, law abiding citizens, good mothers, wives, and daughters.
On August 30, 2012, officers from the Benxi Domestic Security Division and the Xihu District Police Department arrested nine Falun Gong practitioners: Ms. Zhang Li, Ms. Zhang Huishuang, Ms. Li Junying, Ms. Song Wenzhi, Ms. Ren Guizhi, Ms. Gao Peiqin, Ms. Quan Shuhua, and two others. Ms. Zhang Huishuang has been persecuted for many years by the CCP because she will not give up Falun Gong. She has been arrested and tortured. The guards at the local detention center have force-fed her, stretched her arms and legs, and injected her with unknown drugs. As a result, she can no longer take care of herself. She has been detained in Masanjia Forced Labor Camp twice.
Tight security
The Xihu District Court scheduled the practitioners' trial for 9 a.m. on December 19, 2012. Each practitioner was allowed two family members to be present in the courtroom. The general public was not allowed in. Four to five police officers guarded the entrance at all times. Plainclothes officers made up the rest of the spectators. More police stood along each aisle.
11-hour trial
The trial began promptly and lasted until 8 p.m. Eleven hours with no adjournment. Five attorneys pleaded not-guilty for the nine practitioners. They pointed out that the practitioners had been falsely charged. They also explained that Falun Gong does not violate the law, that these were good, law-abiding people. Their defense seemed to shock many who were present in the courtroom.
The major witness in this case was Zhang Chuang (alias Zhang Shuang). The police department did not present his identification card or any other legal document. Zhang Chuang is actually a secret agent for the police. He posed as a Falun Gong practitioner and they came to trust him. Then he helped the police to fabricate “evidence” by requesting Falun Gong materials from practitioners.
People in charge of the case:
Zhang Yulan, presiding judge: +86-18641468895(Cell)
Liu Congbo, judge: +86-18641467707(Cell)
Li Zuo, juror: +86-18641468335(Cell)
Zhang Jie from the Domestic Security Division: +86-15041403033(Cell)
Jiang Yingtao, president of the Court: +86-18641467000(Cell)