(Minghui.org) Nine Falun Gong practitioners were brought to the Zhongshan District Court in Dalian City on the morning of January 27, 2014, to be illegally sentenced. Their "crime" was helping Chinese citizens to install satellite dishes needed to receive New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), programming that is banned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) because it is not state-run.
The practitioners, who had been detained for a year prior to the court date, were emaciated by the time of the hearing. All had been subjected to various forms of abuse. Ms. Pan Xiuqing, 60, had to be carried into the courtroom because she was so frail. She had had most of her teeth knocked out. A limited number of family members were allowed to sit inside the courtroom, while many more had to wait outside.
Judge Liang Yongguo sentenced all nine to prison: Che Zhongshan for 6 years; Zhu Chengqian, 5 years, 9 months; Pei Zhenbo, 5 years, 6 months; Pan Xiuqing, 5 years, 3 months; Shi Zhanshun, 4 years, 6 months; Bai Ruyu, 4 years, 6 months; Wang Shouchen, 4 years, 6 months; Yu Bo, 4 years; and Guo Song, 4 years.
All nine practitioners appealed, and their families have already completed the appeal process.
A Zhongshan Court receptionist assaulted practitioners' relatives when they attempted to negotiate with the court. To pacify the families, court officials promised that family members would be allowed to meet with the practitioners before the end of the year. They later revoked that promise.
During the proceedings, the relatives in the courtroom were very emotional. Some cried and some shouted, “Unfair judgment!” While wiping away tears, one family member promised, “I will help you fight this ruling to the end, even if I go broke doing it.”
The practitioners were ushered out of the courtroom by police officers immediately after the sentencing. They called out, “Falun Dafa is good,” as they were taken away, echoed by the families inside and outside of the courtroom.
On July 6, 2012, the Dalian 610 Office, along with the Political and Legal Affairs Committees, Police Department, National Security Division, Domestic Security Division, and police stations, initiated a widespread arrest of Falun Gong practitioners who had helped people install television satellite dishes. Nearly 100 practitioners have been arrested, detained, and brutally persecuted.
These nine practitioners had been tried in the Zhongshan District Court several times since April 12, 2013, before their sentences were finally handed down. Also tried with them were She Yue, Li Shengjie, Wang Tao, and Lin Lihong. At an October 29 trial, practitioners' lawyers entered not guilty pleas for their clients, but the judge disregarded the defense and adjourned the proceedings within 30 minutes.
It has been almost 15 years since the CCP launched the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999. Countless practitioners have become homeless to avoid arrest and harassment. Thousands have been brutally tortured in detention centers and prisons, and thousands more have died as a result of torture and live organ harvesting.
Liang Yongguo (梁永国), judge of Dalian: +86-411-84793084 (Office)