(Minghui.org) Ms. Gao Weiping, a Falun Gong practitioner from Dongcheng District, Beijing, disappeared on February 9, 2017. Her family visited several detention centers to search for her. Finally, they learned that she was detained at the Dongcheng District Detention Center. Her family hired lawyers, but the detention center didn’t allow the lawyers to see her.
Ms. Guo Weiping, 52, was an editor and a reporter at the research department of China News Service. She has been arrested multiple times after the persecution of Falun Gong began. She was sent to labor camps twice and jailed once. She lost her job because she practiced Falun Gong.
Her family lost contact with her on February 9. They became very anxious and searched everywhere. They learned on March 2 that she was detained at the Dongcheng District Detention Center.
Her family hired a lawyer, but the guard at the detention center refused to let him meet with her. He said that since the birth date on Ms. Gao's identification was different from the birth date on the certificate of kinship provided by the family, he could not grant them access to Ms. Gao. The guard claimed that the cards were for two different people.
The family members went to several police stations until they found the police station which changed Ms. Gao’s birth date. But the police station claimed it was the birth date Ms. Gao gave them.
The lawyer then went to the detention center with various materials including Ms. Gao's photo. But he was still denied visitation with his client. The lawyer finally gave up the case.
The family soon hired another lawyer, Liang Xiaoyun, but he was rejected by the detention center for the same reason. Mr. Liang called the director of the detention center and pointed out that he should be able to see his client as long as he had the power of attorney and lawyer qualification certificate, according to the criminal procedure law. As such, the certificate of kinship required by the detention center was unnecessary according to the law. He pointed out that it was illegal not to allow him to see his client.
Mr. Liang requested a preliminary hearing later. But the guard at the detention center said the preliminary hearing was over.
Ms. Gao's family never received any notification of detention following her arrest. When Mr. Liang asked the authorities why the family had never received it, he was told that he had to contact an officer whose family name is Dong at Dongfang Plaza Police Station.
Related Article:The Whereabouts of Ms. Gao Weiping from Beijing Unknown Since She Was Arrested in 2010
