Lawyer Not Allowed to Review Case or Meet with Falun Gong Clients

(Minghui.org) Mr. Liu Wenhua and Mr. Liu Xinrong were reported and arrested for talking to people about the persecution of Falun Gong on June 3, 2015. They were taken to the Jilin City Detention Center.

The Runaround

The families of the two practitioners hired a lawyer from another city. The authorities refused them access to the case so it could be reviewed and refused to authorize a meeting with the practitioners.

The lawyer asked to review the case at the Changyi District Procuratorate on July 23 and August 27, 2015. The Procuratorate refused the request, claiming that the order came from higher authorities and that the case had been transferred to the Changyi District Court.

Prosecutor Zhang Lin refused to meet with the lawyer, who told him over the phone that refusing the allow a lawyer to review a case is illegal. Zhou responded, "So sue me if you think I violated the law."

The lawyer indeed called the Complaints and Appeals Department about what Zhang had done but was told to go to the Political and Legal Affairs Committee.

When the family and their lawyer went to the Jilin City Detention Center to request a meeting with Mr. Liu, guards refused to allow it on the grounds that someone surnamed Zhou had already prohibited it. The officials there claimed that internal regulations forbade any such meetings since this Zhou person had noted how Mr. Liu had already caused them so many problems.

When the lawyer asked Zhou for the document containing this internal regulation, Zhou said that he could not honor the request. He then left of the office and did not return.

The lawyer went to see the Procuratorate in the detention center to document the illegal acts of the detention center. He was told that they had no authority concerning this issue.

So the lawyer went to the Changyi District Court to submit a power of attorney and ask them to review the case. Wei Jun, the presiding judge of the criminal court, refused to allow it.

When the lawyer said that his refusal violated the law, Wei told him that rules handed down from his superiors forbid lawyers from other cities representing local clients.

In the end, Wei turned the lawyer over to Shan Lianhong, who said that the rule came from the Supreme Procuratorate.

Parties involved in persecuting the two practitioners:Wang Yutang (王玉堂), president, Changyi District Court: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Cell)Song Jingyi (宋井义), deputy president, Changyi District Court: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Cell)Zhu Baolin (朱宝林), warden, Jilin City Detention Center: [phone] (Cell)Procuratorate: [phone], [phone]