Law Enforcement Authorities in Li County, Hebei Province, Sentence Three Falun Gong Practitioners to Prison on Fabricated Evidence (Photos)

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Law Enforcement Authorities in Li County, Hebei Province, Sentence Three Falun Gong Practitioners to Prison on Fabricated Evidence (Photos)

June 14, 2011 | By a Clearwisdom correspondent in Hebei Province, China

(Clearwisdom.net) As we recently discovered, law enforcement authorities in Li County, Hebei Province, used fabricated evidence to send three woman practitioners to prison in December 2007. Below are the newly discovered details.

Background Information on the Victims

All three women are from Nanguan Village, Chengguan Town, Li County, Hebei Province.

Ms. Feng Wenzhen, born in 1958, began her cultivation of Falun Gong in 1998. Not long into her practice, her bronchitis and other health problems disappeared, as did her bad temper.

Ms. Cui Shumei, born in 1952, was a fish vendor before her arrest. Due to constant contact with cold water, all her fingers were gnarled. She also had frequent leg cramps during sleep. But in no more than three months into her practice of Falun Gong in 2003, all her symptoms went away. Everyone who witnessed her changes commented that she gained good health and got rid of her quick temper after practicing.

Ms. Cui Xiaoxian, born in 1947, is retired from Li County Sanitation Bureau. She used to suffer from varicose veins and cervicitis. As a result, her arms and legs were very weak, and she couldn’t pull herself up to do any housework. After she began to practice Falun Gong in 1998, all her problems disappeared. After 1999, however, she had to leave home and move from place to place to avoid persecution. While she was away, the local authorities kept harassing her family.

Ms. Cui Shumei

Ms. Cui Xiaoxian

Ms. Feng Wenzhen

Li County Law Enforcement Agents Arrest the Practitioners, Ransack Their Homes, and Loot Their Personal Belongings

Li County law enforcement agents arrested the three practitioners while they were clarifying the facts on September 19, 2007. The police then ransacked their homes.

Ms. Feng Wenzhen’s home was turned upside down, with quilts and clothes scattered everywhere. The police confiscated her TV, DVD player, and more than 1,000 yuan in cash.

Ms. Feng Wenzhen’s home after the raid

No one was at home when the police ransacked Ms. Cui Shumei’s home, so they scaled the wall of the front yard, smashed the lock, and broke in. They left with all her valuables, including a color TV set, a DVD player, and a tricycle.

When Ms. Cui’s daughter and daughter-in-law requested a confiscated-property list from Li County Domestic Security Division head Wang Junchang, he slapped the daughter in the face and yelled, “I have nothing to give you! I’ll see if you dare to complain to the Li County Party secretary!”

Li County Law Enforcement Agents Fabricate Evidence against the Victims

Li County Police Department deputy chief Liu Wenli and Li County Domestic Security Division head Wang Junchang "pocketed" all the confiscated items. To capitalize on the arrests and advance their political careers, they also fabricated numerous pieces of other evidence and made up a witness lists.

1. Fabrication of a Search Warrant

While ransacking Ms. Feng’s home, the police failed to produce a search warrant when prompted by her husband. They did, however, present a “No. 38 Criminal Search Warrant” during the trial on December 24, 2007.

2. Fabrication of Witnesses

Guo Hui, the deputy head of the 110 Line (the police emergency number in China, equivalent to 911); 610 Office vice head Xu Yonggang; and staff person Cui Xinjun were in charge of arresting and ransacking the homes of the three practitioners. They listed themselves as witnesses.

Xu Yonggang, falsely listed as a witness

Guo Hui, falsely listed as a witness

3. Fabricated Confiscated-Property List

Even though the police did not make a list of confiscated items while ransacking the homes of Ms. Cui and Ms. Fen, they somehow managed to present two lists during the trial, but without any reference to the cash and other valuables that were actually taken.

When the police were at Ms. Cui’s home, they only found several books and a few empty CD cases the family used as planters. They made a short list of these items and had her husband sign it. During the trial, however, the list had swelled to include 370 CDs, 50 cassettes, 30 copies of Minghui Weekly, five copies of Master’s new articles, seven copies of Zhuan Falun, 247 flyers, and 100 copies of Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. When Ms. Cui’s husband demanded to see the list with his signature on it, the presiding judge didn’t know what to say.

4. Fabrication of Interrogation Records

The police also presented five interrogation records, but none of them bore the practitioners’ or the interrogators’ signatures.

5. Fabrication of Home-ransacking Photo

The police ransacked Ms. Feng’s home on September 19, 2007, but the photo they showed during the trial indicated a much later date, May 2008. Moreover, the picture suggested her home had a porcelain tile floor when it is, in fact, concrete.

Li County Party Committee, Political and Legal Committee, and 610 Office Agents Direct Law Enforcement to Give the Three Elderly Practitioners Heavy Sentences

Li County Court held a covert meeting on December 21, 2007, and decided on the verdicts for the three practitioners. They next changed the trial date from December 26^th to the 24^th without informing the families in advance. When the practitioners’ lawyers requested to make copies of the cases as allowed by law, police stopped them.

At around 9:00 a.m. on December 24, 2007, 110 police officers wearing helmets and holding clubs were lined up in two rows outside the courthouse. Inside the courtyard were armed police. Li County Police Department deputy chief Liu Wenli, Domestic Security Division head Wang Junchang, 610 Office head Zhang Yaoxian, and vice heads Xu Yonggang and Tian Lihui showed up to keep a close eye on local practitioners who came to attend the trial. Xu Yongxian stayed near the gate, while Zhang Yaoxian and Tian Lihui circled around the courthouse in a sedan and videotaped practitioners. There were also people assigned to take photos of practitioners and their families.

The trial began at 9:30 a.m. When the presiding judge finished reading the indictment, all three practitioners protested and asked for unconditional and immediate release. Their lawyers next took the stand to defend them, and the presiding judge kept nodding at their honest defense. He had to adjourn the session at around noon.

When everyone was filing out of the courtroom, somebody suddenly called out, “Falun!” They looked up and saw numerous Faluns spinning rapidly around the sun. All the police and 610 Office staff noticed them, too. One onlooker even pulled on Xu Yonggang’s clothing, saying, “Quick, look at the Falun!” The 610 Office people lowered their heads, and many police officers hid in their vehicles and didn’t dare to come out.

Pressured by Li County Party secretary Lu Kunli, deputy secretary Ning Hongmao, Political and Legal Committee secretary Ma Yimin, and 610 Office head Zhang Yaoxian, the court eventually handed Ms. Cui Xiaoxian and Ms. Cui Shumei each a three-year prison sentence, and Ms. Feng Wenzhen seven years. All three women were sent to Shijiazhuang Women’s Prison.

As of now, Ms. Feng is still suffering in the prison. Li County Police Department agents arrested her husband, Zhao Xiaochang, on September 23, 2009, and sentenced him to two years. He is now in the Li County Detention Center.