(Minghui.org) Ms. Gao Yuhuan and Ms. Jiang Yuling were sentenced to three years in prison on February 1, 2016, for refusing to renounce their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.

The two women tried to exercise their legal right to appeal upon receipt of the verdict. However, Baoqing County Court deliberately defrauded them by telling them that their appeal woulds be considered complete when they made a verbal request. They thus made a verbal appeal request, as told.

According to the Supreme People's Court opinion on the Code of Civil Procedure, Article 178, an appeal shall be deemed effective only if it is filed in writing within the statutory time limit. When defendants verbally request an appeal, courts are obligated to inform them that a written request is still required.

On February 15, the court notified the families of both practitioners that Ms. Gao and Ms. Jiang could not file an appeal, as they did not submit a written request within the statutory time limit. It was at this point that the families realized that they had been deceived.

Ms. Gao was arrested on July 15, 2015 and Ms. Jiang on July 21, 2015. Both were held at Baoqing Detention Center. They were tried on December 28, 2015.

The trial lasted almost five hours, under heavy courthouse security. Only three of the practitioners' family members were allowed to enter the courtroom. The door to the court building was closed for the day, and police monitored the surroundings with cameras.