(Minghui.org) Anyang City Intermediate Court recently decided to uphold the prison sentence of a Falun Gong practitioner wrongly accused of instigating two students to self-immolate on Tiananmen Square.

The practitioner and her lawyer protested due to inadmissible evidence presented by the prosecution. The “student-witnesses” did not show up in court, suggesting that there is no proof such students even exist.

The Beiguang District Court tried Ms. Sang secretly on April 22, 2015, and sentenced her to thee years in prison. She appealed the verdict with the Anyang City Intermediate Court and hired a lawyer.

Her lawyer demanded an open trial and that the two students testify. The judge of the Anyang City Intermediate Court denied the request and claimed that it was impossible to have the students testify.

The judge said that he would sentence the accused to prison because she did not admit to having committed a crime.

“My client did not commit a crime. How could she admit to it?” said the lawyer. The Anyang City Intermediate Court decided to uphold the verdict without a trial.

Ms. Sang is being held in the Anyang City Detention Center. 

Ms. Sang in the Anyang City Detention Center visiting room

Criminal Detention

Ms. Sang was reported to the authorities for promoting traditional Chinese culture and encouraging people to quit the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its affiliated organizations. She was arrested by officers from the Beiguang Police Department on March 30, 2014. Five Shen Yun DVDs in her bag were confiscated.

She was first held for 10 days of administrative detention and then put under criminal detention on April 9. The local Procuratorate approved her arrest on June 24, 2014.

Police Harassment

Back in 2001 Ms. Sang was given three years at the Shilibahe Women's Forced Labor Camp for appealing in Beijing for the right to practice Falun Gong. Her husband divorced her, which left her homeless when she was released. Her residential registration was also canceled by the Anyang County {{610 Office)), and she could not get a residential identification card.

The police required proof of residence for where Ms. Sang moved. Police officer Li, who was in charge of her case, promised Ms. Sang's son that his mother would be released if he provided her with a local address. Her son gave them his address. and the police ransacked his home, though they did not find anything.

With Ms. Sang's new registration, the police were able to get her case accepted by the Beiguang District Procuratorate.

Trial Delayed Due to Lack of Evidence

The Beiguang District Court tried Ms. Sang on September 22, 2014, without notifying any of her family members.

The Anyang County 610 Office, the Beiguang District procurator, and the police fabricated evidence and claimed that Ms. Sang had instigated two students to self-immolate on Tiananmen Square. The trial could not continue without any creditable evidence and was delayed.