(Minghui.org) Mr. Mo Zhikui, Mr. Zhang Jinku, Mr. Sun Wenfu, Mr. Li Dapeng and Mr. Xu Feng have been illegally sentenced and taken to the Jiamusi City Prison in Heilongjiang Province around 8 a.m. on August 21, 2013. Nine other practitioners are awaiting trial.
Mr. Zhang is currently in critical condition. He was at the Yilan County Hospital before officials from Yilan County transferred him to prison.
Mr. Zhang was brutally beaten in detention before the trial. His lungs were punctured. He then developed tuberculosis and was unable to eat for more than 20 days. He had to be taken to Yilan County Hospital and received emergency treatment for six days. He was closely monitored by the police while hospitalized. His family wasn't allowed to visit him.
Mr. Zhang, Mr. Mo, Mr. Li, Mr. Xu and Mr. Sun were put on trial by the Yilan Court on July 18, 2013. Mr. Mo's family hired two lawyers from Beijing to defend him. They eloquently argued against prosecutor Ning Yan's allegations. In the end, the lawyers' defence argument left the judges and the prosecution speechless.
The defense attorneys asked the judges to grant Mr. Mo a not-guilty verdict and immediately release him. However, judges Zhang Anke and Lu Shoufang still sentenced all five practitioners, including Mr. Mo.
The lawyers weren't informed of their client's sentencing until 10 days later. Mr. Mo was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment; Mr. Zhang and Mr. Sun were sentenced to five years; and Mr. Xu and Mr. Li were sentenced to three years.
Policemen from Yilan County, Fangzheng County and Tonghe County Police Departments in Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, colluded on the evening of March 29, 2013, to arrest about 50 practitioners.
The arrested practitioners included Mr. Mo Zhikui, Ms. Fei Shuqin (67 years old), Mr. Zuo Zhenqi, Ms. Lu Fengyun (67 years old), Ms. Chen Yan, Mr. Sun Wenfu, Mr. Liu Fengcheng, Mr. Xu Feng, Ms. Zhang Huijuan, Mr. Li Dapeng, Ms. Duan Shuyan, Ms. Jiang Lianying (69 years old), Ms. Meng Fanying and Mr. Zhang Jinku, among others.
The practitioners' families didn't know of their situation for several months. It wasn't until the beginning of July that the families learned of their loved ones' detention and impending trial.