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Falun Gong Practitioners Song Wenhua and Li Lixin from Tiangjin City Illegally Sentenced to Prison
(Clearwisdom.net) Falun Gong pracitioners Ms. Song Wenhua and Ms. Li
Lixin of Tianjin City were arrested on January 25, 2008, and were detained at
the Beichen Detention Center in Tianjin City. On February 4, they were given
arrest documents. On the morning of April 25, they were illegally
sentenced by the Beichen Court in Tianjin City. The judge only allowed two
family members to attend. All other relatives and friends were not allowed to
enter the court. The court also appointed lawyers. Police officers barged into Ms. Song Wenhua's residence at around 2:30 p.m.
on January 25, 2008. The excuse given was checking the residents. The police
confiscated a computer, printers and other personal property. Because many Falun
Gong related items were found in Ms. Song's house, she was detained and
illegally incarcerated in the Beichen Detention Center by Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) personnel. On April 25 at 8:30 a.m., CCP personnel carried out a so-called
"trial" in the Beichen Court. They claimed that Ms. Song Wenhua
printed copies of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party,
as well as booklets to clarify the truth about Falun Gong, and other
related Falun Gong materials. They also charged that she had tried to distribute
these materials but was not successful, and she was charged with
"attempting to commit a crime." She was sentenced to a minimum of
three years and a maximum of five years of imprisonment. During the court
session, the judge and lawyer repeatedly asked Ms. Song about details and made
use of the fact that she was not familiar with the law to deceive her into
admitting to her "crime." Ms. Song repeatedly insisted that the
so-called evidence was fabricated and the amount of the materials they claimed
to have found was not possible. However, the judge told her not to concentrate
on the amount and only answer if she had the items in her possession. During her defense, Ms. Song Wenhua said that all the people in the world
need to have freedom of belief. The judge finally rebuked her and forbade her
from speaking on this topic. The lawyer told Ms. Song Wenhua to sign a piece of paper admitting to her
crime. Ms. Song refused and said that she did not commit any crime and saw no
reason to sign. The lawyer respected her decision. When Ms. Song's daughter asked the lawyer why her computer was confiscated
when no Falun Gong related materials were found on it, the lawyer replied that
this was not an issue related to the court. He said that he had asked people
from the police station, but they said that the computer did have Falun Gong
related materials on it and was thus confiscated. Ms. Li Lixin, who was arrested the same day as Ms. Song, was also sentenced
in court on April 25. She was charged with the crime of installing a satellite
dish to watch programs from New Tang Dynasty Television. Due to pressure from
her family members, she was compelled to sign the court document, thus accepting
the sentence. Ms. Li Lixin was arrested on the afternoon of January 25, 2008. At around
2:00 p.m. that day, five police cars and dozens of police officers arrived at
her house and forcibly confiscated her satellite dish and receiver, her desktop
computer, a box of Falun Gong books, truth-clarifying materials, tapes and more.
The night before, policemen from the Yixingfu Police Station went to her house
to take a look and lied, saying that someone reported to the authorities that
there were gambling sessions taking place at her house. May 3, 2008
Posting date: 5/15/2008 |