(Minghui.org) Six locals in Lanzhou City were sentenced to prison in January 2018 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Mr. Wang Jilin was arrested on May 13, 2017; Mr. Yang Xuegui on September 19, 2016; Mr. Zhou Wei on September 14, 2016; and Ms. Fang Jianping, Mr. Li Fubin, and his wife Ms. Zheng Shu were all arrested on September 3, 2016.
The six Falun Gong practitioners were tried in three separate trials on August 24, 2017. Mr. Wang, Ms. Zheng, and Mr. Fang had court-appointed lawyers who pleaded guilty for them, but they knew that they had broken no law and demanded to be acquitted. The other three practitioners had their own lawyers to defend their constitutional right to freedom of belief.
A few days after the New Year 2018, the presiding judge sentenced all six practitioners to prison, with Mr. Li given 6 years, Mr. Yang 5 years, Mr. Fang 4.5 years, Mr. Zhou 4 years, Ms. Zheng 3 years, and Mr. Wang 2 years. Except for Mr. Wang, all five of the other practitioners verbally requested to appeal their sentences after the judge announced the verdicts.
The practitioners’ families weren’t informed of the verdicts until February 2, a Friday. As soon as Monday (February 5) arrived, they consulted a lawyer on how to file appeals for their loved ones.
Mr. Li, Mr. Yang, Mr. Zhou, and Mr. Fang each had one family member visit the local trial court on February 6. Judge Wang Haibin told the four family members that a hard copy of the verdicts was delivered to the practitioners on February 2, and that their lawyers should receive their copies in a few days. He also warned the family members to not expect any open hearing by the local appeals court.
Mr. Li’s family asked when exactly he was sentenced, and Wang said that he didn’t remember. He promised that even if the family missed the deadline to file an appeal, the verbal request for appeal made by Mr. Li would count.
Mr. Yang’s mother visited the local detention center on February 7. She requested that the detention center director provide her with a copy of her son’s verdict so that she could find someone to write an appeal. The director declined her request.
She then went to the appeals court with the family members of Mr. Li, Mr. Zhou, and Mr. Fang. A staff member there assured them that families are allowed to write appeals on the practitioners’ behalf.
Mr. Zhou’s family contacted his lawyer for the initial trial, and the lawyer said he happened to be boarding a flight to Lanzhou at the moment. He landed the following day and wrote an appeal for Mr. Zhou.
The family members of Mr. Li, Mr. Yang, Mr. Zhou, and Mr. Fang submitted their appeals to the appeals court on February 9.
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