(Minghui.org) Three attorneys were arrested on August 12 outside of the police department in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang Province, for seeking their legal right to meet with their clients, who are unlawfully detained Falun Gong practitioners. The lawyers were detained for about seven hours.
The attorneys haven't been able to meet with their clients since July 8. The very next day, the local court sentenced the practitioners, but did not make the verdict available. Struggling to meet the deadline to appeal, the attorneys have tried all legal means to meet with their clients.
Their clients, Guan Ri'an (关日安) and Zhang Yutang (张玉堂), were subjected to a secret trial at the Mudanjiang No. 1 Detention Center in mid-June.
On July 1, the local court told attorneys Wang Yu (王宇), Li Chunfu (李春富), and Li Dunyong (李敦勇) that there had been no new developments to their case, nor did they find any record of a trial. However, upon meeting with Mr. Guan later on the same day, they verified that a secret trial had already taken place in June. The local procuratorate sent a prosecutor to the detention center, and the “trial” lasted about an hour.
Having exhausted all other means, the attorneys protested in front of the Mudanjiang Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Mudanjiang Police Department for not being able to visit their clients who had been secretly sentenced and were seeking to appeal. The sign reads “Attorneys call for visitation right.” This picture was taken in front of the police department.
After over a month of persistent efforts, on the morning of August 12, the attorneys saw from a local procurator a document that was about to be presented to the detention center. According to the attorneys, the document said that attorneys' visitation rights should be granted and that the detention center ought to correct its violations of the law.
Upon seeing the document, the attorneys took a taxi to the detention center. However, they were again denied entry. They then went to the Mudanjiang Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to file a joint complaint.
The three attorneys were subsequently arrested outside the Mudanjiang Police Department when they returned there in the afternoon to continue to seek visitation rights.
While going to various departments to seek justice, attorney Wang Yu was told by an official at the Mudanjiang procuratorate: “Secretary Li Mingxian, [deputy secretary of the Mudanjiang Political and Legal Affairs Committee], told us that we implement the 'three-no' policies to rights lawyers on certain cases: no reception, no acceptance/hearing, and no explanations.”
Participants in the persecution of Mr. Guan and Mr. Zhang:Hao Guiju (郝桂菊), chief criminal judge of Muling City Court: +86-13836321519 (Cell), +86-453-3138161Zhao Jinyu (赵金玉), the person in charge of the case in Muling Court: +86-13945399032 (Cell), +86-453-3122682
Related article in Chinese:http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2014/8/19/黑龙江省牡丹江市公检法人员违法事实-296182.html
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2014/8/13/律师在牡丹江市公安局门前被绑架-295974.html
