(Minghui.org) Mr. Li Bin was sentenced to 7.5 years by an out-of-province court for posting messages on WeChat, the most popular social media platform in China. His posts were about the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Dafa, a spiritual discipline also known as Falun Gong, since 1999. When the appeals court expressed concern over lack of prosecution evidence, the police collected data on new users who'd joined his social media group while he was in detention and presented that as additional evidence.
Mr. Li, a 53-year-old Botou City, Hebei Province resident, was arrested at home on April 28, 2021, by officers from the neighboring province of Henan, about 250 miles away. The laptop computer he used to teach his granddaughter Chinese was confiscated after the police found educational cartoons made by Falun Gong practitioners on it.
Mr. Li’s lawyer was repeatedly denied requests to visit him. The prosecutor also claimed that they didn’t have his case on file in order to prevent his lawyer from reviewing his case document.
Judge Wang Ruixia of the Wenfeng District Court in Anyang City, Henan Province secretly sentenced Mr. Li to 7.5 years and fined him 50,000 yuan in early December 2021.
In his appeal with the Anyang City Intermediate Court in Henan, Mr. Li’s lawyer pointed out how the prosecutor and judge violated legal procedure in blocking his legal representation and secretly sentencing him.
After judge Cui Wei of the appeals court indicated that there wasn’t enough evidence against Mr. Li, the police collected the data of new users who’d joined Mr. Li’s WeChat group since his arrest and submitted it as additional evidence, even though the new users all joined one their own while Mr. Li had no access to social media in detention. It’s not clear whether the appeals court has issued a further ruling on Mr. Li’s case at the time of writing.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Cui Wei (崔伟), judge, Anyang City Intermediate Court: +86-372-3163271Wang Ruixia (王瑞霞), presiding judge, Wenfeng District Court: +372-2097312Hou Shangfa (侯尚法), director, Wenfeng District 610 Office: +86-372-5396287, +86-13700716959
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related reports:
Man Sentenced to 7.5 Years by Out-of-town Court for Sending Message on WeChat
Hebei Resident Faces Prosecution in Henan for Posting Information on WeChat
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