(Minghui.org) A human rights lawyer was silenced when he was detailing how a lower court had violated legal procedure and applied the wrong law in sentencing his client to three years for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
Ms. Rao Shunqin from Xinyang City, Henan Province, was arrested last May and sentenced seven months later.
During the appeals hearing this March, her lawyer pointed out that there has never been any law that criminalizes Falun Gong in the first place. He argued that the lower court judge had no legal basis to punish Ms. Rao for exercising her constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Additionally, the lower court judge relied on police-fabricated evidence to mete out the prison sentence to Ms. Rao.
The lawyer demanded that the police agency involved and the first judge be held responsible for wrongfully accusing and sentencing his client. The appeals court judge interrupted him at that point and adjourned the hearing.
Ms. Rao, a 49-year-old shoe vendor, has been incarcerated in Xinyang City No.1 Detention Center since she was seized from her home last May. While she awaits the next hearing, her lawyer has vowed to continue his efforts to have her sentence overturned.
Inadmissible Evidence Used in Sentencing
Ms. Rao was first tried by Shihe District Trial Court on September 14, 2015. Only three of her family members were allowed to observe the trial.
According to her husband who attended the trial, the prosecution evidence against his wife included confessions extracted during police interrogation and items confiscated from their home on the day of her arrest.
Ms. Rao's husband was shocked to hear that his wife had “admitted to her guilt,” as she told him many times over the years that there was nothing wrong with her producing and spreading informational materials about the persecution of Falun Gong.
It'd be out of character for her to admit her “wrongdoing” in making such materials. He suspected that she might have been tortured during the interrogation. The judge, however, ordered him removed from the courtroom when he questioned the validity of the confessions.
Ms. Rao testified that she had the legal right to burn DVD discs bearing information about the persecution of Falun Gong. The discs, along with their purchase receipt confiscated from her home, did nothing to prove her alleged crime of undermining law enforcement.
She demanded acquittal, but was handed a three-year sentence on December 4, 2015.
Intermediate Court Keeps Changing Appeals Hearing Date on Short Notice
Ms. Rao soon filed an appeal. Shihe District Intermediate Court set a hearing date for March 11, 2016, only to postpone it several times on short notice.
Ms. Rao's family suspected that the court kept changing the date so as to keep supporters of Ms. Rao from attending the hearing.
The appeals hearing was finally set for March 28, but the judge changed it from a scheduled early morning time to mid-afternoon on the day of the hearing.
The courthouse closed its entrance shortly before the hearing, and three police cars were parked outside to keep supporters away. Similar to the first trial, only three of Ms. Rao's family members were allowed inside. Even her mother was blocked outside.
Perpetrators' contact information:
Wang Xinsheng (王新生), prosecutor at Shihe District Procuratorate: +86-13598558366Cheng Shihua (程室华), staff at Shihe District Procuratorate: +86-13939703538
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