(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Qiaolian's lawyer, Mr. Dong Qianyong, was held for more than two hours on October 24, 2014 for requesting his client's release in the Baiyin District Procuratorate in Baiyin City, Gansu Province.
Ms. Li was among 13 Falun Gong practitioners illegally arrested on September 19, 2014 in Baiyin. Ms. Li's family hired Beijing attorney Dong Qianyong to defend her. Mr. Dong arrived in Baiyin on October 24 to visit Ms. Li in the detention center. He noted that she exhibited symptoms of severe high blood pressure.
After his visit, Mr. Dong went directly to the Baiyin District Procuratorate to request her release, accompanied by Ms. Li's family. Two officials from the Arrest Approval Section accepted the materials that the attorney submitted, but not without subjecting him to severe harassment.
They verbally abused him, checked his cell phone, and searched his bag. They demanded his law firm's phone number to confirm his identity.
When he protested this treatment, they threatened to call the court police to detain him. Then they shut the door and locked him inside the room for more than two hours.
While Mr. Dong was being held, staff from the procuratorate came out to check on Ms. Li's family, who were waiting outside the procuratorate building. Unidentified individuals photographed the family from an upstairs window.
Ms. Li Qiaolian, in her 60's, is a retiree. She was previously sentenced to prison in April 2009 and was subjected to brutal torture during her imprisonment. After she was released in August 2013, she lost her retirement benefits.
