(Minghui.org) Wanghua District Court tried seven Falun Gong practitioners in the Nangou Detention Center in Fushun City, Liaoning Province on July 9-10, 2013. The verdicts were not announced until mid-August 2013.

The practitioners were detained in a detention center during that time and had decided to appeal to a higher court. However, court officials refused to provide the verdicts to the practitioners or their families.

Police officers from the Domestic Security Division of Fushun City arrested the seven practitioners on April 15, 2012. By the time of their trial, they had been detained for about 15 months. It is actually against the law to detain people for such a long period of time without a trial.

The practitioners were charged with “Using a heretical organization to undermine the implementation of law,” but no evidence of such a crime was presented to the court. Defense lawyers defended the innocence of the practitioners, providing solid proof.

According to legal procedures, the verdicts should have been delivered to these practitioners and their families within five days of the announcement. Even when their families went to the court to request information about the status of these practitioners, they were told nothing.

The seven practitioners are Ms. Zhang Deyan, Mr. Mu Guodong, Ms. Wang Yumei, Mr. Sun Haifeng, Mr. Zhao Jiwei, Ms. Chi Xiuhua, and Ms. Shang Liping, from Xinbin County, Liaoning.

The Wanghua District Court does not have jurisdiction over Xinbin County. Because the purported "crime" took place in Xinbin County, it was illegal to try them in the Wanghua District Court in the first place.