(Minghui.org) A 69-year-old woman in Dandong City was sentenced to three years in prison for owning books of Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Guiqin’s lawyer has filed a complaint against Judge Guo Zhongren for issuing the conviction without legal basis.
Ms. Li was seized on March 9, 2017 after being reported by a local villager named Zhang Weize. During her trial at Zhen’an District Court on June 28, the prosecutor cited statements made by Zhang, but the witness was not present to testify or accept cross-examination.
The defense lawyer requested to call Zhang to the stand, but Judge Guo ignored him. The prosecutor accused Ms. Li of breaking the law by owning Falun Gong books. He cited two notices issued by the General Administration of Press and Publication in 1999 to ban the publication of Falun Gong books.
The lawyer stated that the notices were no longer in effect as they had already been repealed by the General Administration in 2011. In addition, the lawyer argued that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong and that his client had every right to own Falun Gong books.
The lawyer mailed a copy of the repeal of the ban to Judge Guo after the trial and urged him to acquit Ms. Li.
Guo sentenced Ms. Li to prison in late July. Her lawyer notified her family on July 28 that he had filed a complaint against Guo with the Dandong Intermediate Court.
Ms. Li remains at Tangchi Detention Center.
Related report:
China Administration of Press and Publication Repealed Its Ban on Publication of Falun Gong Books in 2011
