(Minghui.org) A local resident of Shuangyashan City was arrested in September 2016 for telling people about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline persecuted in China since 1999.
Mr. Chen Yan was tried and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in February this year. He appealed, as the verdict was based on unlawfully obtained evidence and testimony by sketchy witnesses. The intermediate court judge upheld the original sentence in July.
Mr. Chen's wrote in his complaint that the police did not check with him if the evidence came from his possession, which is required by law. The police also cannot approve the legitimacy of the arresting and investigation procedures.
The two investigating officers were also called in as witnesses during the trial. Under China's criminal law, the officers must recuse themselves and stop investigating the case once they were selected as witnesses. Thus, the evidence they obtained afterwards and their testimony cannot be presented during the trial.
Mr. Chen's previous forced labor sentences were from more than two years ago and not relevant to this case. They cannot be used as part of a repeat offender pattern. Furthermore, the persecution is illegal in the first place and should not be used in a legal trial.
Since the persecution of Falun Gong began, Mr. Chen has been sentenced twice to forced labor and held in a brainwashing center.
