On July 22nd, 1999, the Chinese government banned Falun Gong. The Falun Dafa practitioners all over the country tried to report the truth about Falun Gong to the leadership of the Chinese government through normal channels and hoped that Jiang Zemin could return the innocence to Falun Dafa.. We, Falun Dafa practitioners in Heyuan, also got involved in protecting Dafa. Nine practitioners went to Beijing to appeal last September, but all were brought back before they could make the appeal, and were subsequently detained from 7 to 15 days.
At the end of last October, about 30 Dafa practitioners in Heyuan went to Beijing to appeal. The practitioners who went to Beijing this second time were sentenced to forced labor in a labor camp. Practitioner Ye was sentenced to two years, practitioner Li Yuxia one and half year, practitioners Yuan Qunrui and Chen each one year of forced labor.
On the eve of the New Millennium, about 50 Dafa practitioners from Heyuan greeted the New Year by holding a group practice in a park. The local police detained over 40 of these practitioners. Because the practitioners persisted in studying the Fa and doing the exercises in jail, cold water was poured on them, and their Dafa materials were taken away. The practitioners expressed their determination in practicing Dafa with hunger strikes until the environment for their practice was restored. Some practitioners were detained for 7 days, some for 15 days. Nine of them were sent to a detention center and detained, again, after they were detained for 15 days.. On January 8th, the police released them, but the family members of the 6 practitioners were imposed a fine - the so-called "bail" - of 2000 Yuan RMB ($250, an average one-half-year salary).
Between February and March, the local police detained more than ten practitioners including Qiu xx, Liu Shufen, Geng Jianying, and He Caicui with no charges. Some of them were detained for 15 days, some for more than 10 days or one month. Practitioner Xiao Meilian was detained for one month for going to Beijing to protect Dafa, for the first time. They sentenced those Dafa practitioners with the alleged charges of, "disrupting public order" and "suspicion of sabotaging the national law".
Under such a tough situation, in the middle of April, more than 30 Dafa practitioners successively went to Beijing to protect Dafa, once again. Among them, the youngest was only 4 years old and the oldest was 75 years old. It was a very touching scene. They are all beneficiaries from Dafa and they went a thousand miles, to the capital, just to tell the central government that Falun Dafa is good. Should this be prohibited? However, some of them were continuously interrogated for 30 to 40 hours for going to Beijing, some even for more than 10 hours, some were kicked and beaten up, and some were fined while in custody. Some Dafa practitioners, Huang Hongmei, Deng Shie, Liu Sufen, Li Qiu, Geng Jianying, Li, and Zeng have been detained for more than three months and some of them are still in jail.
From the end of April to the beginning of May, the local police detained many practitioners who were still persisting in cultivation at their homes, among them were Xiao Meilian, Li Mei, Li Chaoqun, Pan Xiulin, Huang Hainan, Wu xx, Chen xx, etc. Li Chaoqun's wife has already been put in jail for going to Beijing to protect Dafa. The police detained him for over one month despite the fact that his two little children needed his care. Among these practitioners, some were detained for 15 days, while some are still in jail. Chen xx has been detained for 4 months and still hasn't been released.
On June 3rd and 4th, the police once again detained several practitioners including Xiao Meilian and Ye Honglin who were at their homes. The police demanded 5000 Yuan RMB ($600, more than one year's average salary for most people in China) as a "guarantee" from the family members of Ye Honglin, threatening to put her in a mental hospital if they refused to pay.
Wen Qiumei, a practitioner from Zijin, was arrested on June 19th and was interrogated continuously. At the end of June, she was sent to Bailingtou Detention Center and a confession was extorted after over 10 hours of interrogation.
Ten practitioners went to Beijing to protect Dafa at the end of June. The police searched some of these practitioners' houses and confiscated their property. Pan Suzhen's TV set and mahogany furniture were seized as the payment of the 2000-Yuan "escort fee". Several other practitioners' properties were also seized.
Nine Dafa practitioners went to Beijing to protect Dafa successively at the beginning of July. Several practitioners, including Lai Wumei, were beaten with clubs, by the police. Dafa practitioner Deng Xin was at home when the law-enforcement personnel climbed onto the second floor kicked a hole in the door and climbed through the hole to arrest her. She was detained for 20 days. Some other practitioners were also forcibly taken to the detention centers from their homes and detained there. Li xx and her daughter were fined 5000 Yuan.
In August, two practitioners were sentenced to 2 years in a labor camp; many others were sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp.