(Minghui.org) Mr. Chen Shuang was taken to Beijiang Prison in May 2019 after the Shenzhen Intermediate Court upheld his seven-year sentence for not renouncing his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The intermediate court didn't hold a hearing for Mr. Chen's case before making the decision, nor did they inform his lawyer or family.
Mr. Chen's family only found out about his imprisonment when one of his relatives went to the local local detention center to make deposits for him and found that he was no longer there.
The lawyer contacted the intermediate court to seek more details on his case. He was told that a copy of the ruling to uphold the sentence had been mailed to Mr. Chen's father, who, however, had never received any information from the local trial court or the intermediate court since Mr. Chen's arrest.
The intermediate court also refused to provide contact information for the judge who handled Mr. Chen's case. One other judge not involved in his case implied to the lawyer that the original verdict was determined by the intermediate court, and appealing the sentence wouldn't change anything.
Mr. Chen, a Hubei Province native, moved to Shenzhen, Guangdong Province for work after he graduated from college. He was arrested on June 4, 2017 after the police saw him posting information about Falun Gong through a surveillance camera.
After three hearings by Longguang District Court, Mr. Chen was sentenced to prison and fined 10,000 yuan around July 2018.
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