(Minghui.org) A boat engineer in Huludao City, Liaoning Province, recently had his appeal against a four-year prison sentence for practicing Falun Gong rejected.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Luan Changhui, 51, was arrested at the Bohai Shipyard where he worked on July 20, 2021. His wife, acting as a non-lawyer defender, kept writing letters to the police, prosecutor, and judges to seek his release and urge them not to participate in the persecution.
She pointed out in the letters that the charge against her husband, “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” doesn’t have any legal ground, as the authorities couldn’t demonstrate what law’s enforcement has been undermined and how.
Nevertheless, all of the agencies she contacted turned a blind eye to her appeals and proceeded with the prosecution of Mr. Luan’s case.
When Mr. Luan appeared in the makeshift courtroom at the detention center on November 24, 2021, his wife demanded to have prosecutor Long Dan recused from the case, as she has filed complaints against him in violation of legal procedure in handling Mr. Luan’s case. Her request was rejected by the judge.
Wang Fubiao of the Longgang District Procuratorate also said to Mr. Luan’s wife in response to her letters that they wouldn’t provide any response or explanation to her. If she didn’t agree with their decision, she could go ahead and file an appeal. He claimed that he would bear all the responsibility if he did anything wrong.
The Lianshan District Court sentenced Mr. Luan to four years with a 20,000-yuan fine on November 30, 2021. He appealed with the Huludao City Intermediate Court and demanded an open hearing.
On January 11, 2022, Mr. Luan’s wife also submitted a letter to the intermediate court, recording the unlawful handling of evidence by judge Li Fushan of the lower court. She said that she had insisted that the judge show all the evidence in court, read the printed materials out loud, and play the videos, but Li refused to exhibit any of the evidence.
Without a hearing, the higher court ruled to uphold Mr. Luan’s original sentence on January 25.