(Clearwisdom.net) Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officers from Hongshugou Village and Wandianzi Township, of Qingyuan County in Liaoning Province attempted to illegally arrest Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhen Zhaolian on March 28, 2008, but were not successful. At the time of the arrest attempt, Ms. Zhen was at her husband's funeral. Her husband's death was unjustified and a result of ongoing harassment and mistreatment by local officials and police officers.
Ms. Zhen Zhaolin, 57, is a resident of Hongshugou Village in Wandianzi Township, Qingyuan County. She went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong in October 2001. Afterwards, she faced intense persecution by Township government personnel and had to become homeless in order to avoid further persecution. Personnel from the Wandianzi Township government and township police station came on many occasions to compel her husband, Mr. Jie Lingchen, to hand over his wife. They also fined him 7,500 yuan. Jie Lingyuan had no choice but to sell his house, farm and cows at low prices to come up with the money to pay this fine. The authorities gave him only a handwritten receipt for the fine. They also used unscrupulous means of implicating others and fined them as well. They fined village chief Wang Bingwen 1,000 yuan, village secretary Li Yuxue 1,000 yuan and accountant Bo Shouyi 500 yuan.
Village chief Wang Bingwen frequently came to harass Mr. Jie Lingchen, wanting compensation for the money they had to pay. He threatened to confiscate the piece of land owned by Ms. Zhen Zhaolian and her daughter, that they used for planting crops (Ms. Zhen's daughter also practices Falun Gong). Jie Lingchen could not withstand the harassment by the officers and had no choice but to sell the five-mu (about 0.8 acre) piece of land to come up with 2,500 yuan to compensate the village leaders for their fine. They did not give him a receipt for the money.
Since 2001, Jie Lingchen has suffered tremendous pressure under the persecution. He fell very sick one day and had a heart attack. He has been heavily fined and was living under enormous financial strain, and with his wife living away from home to avoid further persecution, Mr. Jie was living in constant fear. On March 25, 2008, at around 10:00 p.m. Jie Lingchen's physical condition worsened and he was taken to the county hospital. At 11:00 p.m. on March 26, 2008, he passed away.
On the morning of March 28, 2008, Zhen Zhaolian had her husband's remains cremated and carried out arrangements for his funeral. When the funeral was only halfway completed, Wang Bingwen, the deputy Party Branch secretary of Hongshugou Village, led Zhang Qing, a police officer from Wandianzi Township, Li Tiezhong, chief of the township justice department, Jin Mingzhu and Li Xuenan, a female union chief, to Ms. Zhen's home. They barged into the house and attempted to arrest her. The relatives and neighbors who were attending the funeral severely reprimanded these officers for being so inhumane and for not having any conscience. Under resistance from the relatives and neighbors, the persecutors left reluctantly without arresting Ms. Zhen Zhaolian.
Personnel involved in the persecution:
Wang Bingwen, deputy secretary of Hongshuguo Township: 86-413-3494128 (Home)
Li Xuenan, chief of the Wandianzi Township Women's Union: 86-413-3480166 (Home),
86-13604137978 (Cell)
Zhang Weimin, resident of Hongshuguo village. He had been employed to monitor
Falun Gong practitioners: 86-413-3494162 (Cell)
Jin Mingzhu, employee of the justice department in Wandianzi Township:
86-13942354690
March 29, 2008
