(Minghui.org) On August 9, 2012, Heilongjiang Province Dongning County Court sentenced Mr. Miao Fu and seven other Falun Gong practitioners. Four of the practitioners appealed to the higher court. The lawyers visited the detention center to have them sign the paperwork. Their appeal will go to the Mudanjiang City Intermediate Court.

Seven of the practitioners were arrested on January 9, 2012. Mr. Wang Xihe drove practitioners Mr. Cao Wenbo, Mr. Liang Junzhi, Mr. Xu Yili, Ms. Xiao Hua, Ms. Lu Yulan, and Ms. Zhang Guiqin to Daohe Town to distribute Falun Gong truth-clarification materials. Hedao Bianfang Police Station officers arrested them.

On the morning of February 2, 2012, when Mr. Miao Fu went to the police department to request the release of his detained relative, deputy director Zhao Zhandong arrested him, too. He was later tortured in order to extract a confession.

On June 27, 2012, the Dongning County Court held hearings for the eight practitioners. Five lawyers from Beijing defended the them, but they were still sentenced. Their families all wanted to appeal but the president of the Dongning County Court, Wang Chuanfa, told them that they were not qualified to appeal.

In court, Mr. Miao Fu seemed subdued and was emaciated. He had bruises and scars on his arms and face. He could barely stand up or walk, and his voice was faint. He could not remember all of his ordeal in the detention center. He only remembered the director of the Domestic Security Division, Lin Xiaowei, who had punched him in the head. In court he testified that he had asked the court to start the Illegal Evidence Exclusion Process, but judge Wang Chuanfa did not even acknowledge his request, saying, “There is no need to start the Illegal Evidence Exclusion Process. Plus, I don't know how to start it.”

On August 9, 2012, Dongning County Court secretly sentenced the eight practitioners in the detention center without notifying their families or their lawyers. Mr. Miao Fu was sentenced to seven years in prison. Mr. Cao Wenbo, Mr. Wang Xihe, and Ms. Xiao Hua were sentenced to three years. Ms. Lu Yulan and Mr. Liang Junzhi were sentenced to two years. Mr. Xu Yili and Ms. Zhang Guiqin were each sentenced to one and a half years.