(Minghui.org) Mr. Yan Xihong, who is a Falun Gong practitioner, has been detained for nearly two months since his illegal arrest on May 12, 2014. His family received the arrest notice at the end of May, indicating that the Procuratorate has approved the arrest. He is facing an illegal trial and/or sentencing.
The May arrest was among a wider operation involving harassment, monitoring and arrests of Falun Gong practitioners ordered by the Shanghai 610 Office prior to the 4th Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held on May 20-21.
More than twenty officers from the Fengxian District Domestic Security Division participated in Mr. Yan's arrest. The police also arrested Mr. Yan's wife and his three children, one of whom was a toddler and another in grade school.
The police ransacked Mr. Yan's home and seized the van used for his family business. They also confiscated multiple computers, tablets, smartphones, Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong's founder, and the family's bank debit cards.
During the night, Mr. Yan was transferred to the Fengxian Detention Center from the Fengcheng Police Station. His wife and children were released.
More than two weeks later, the police still hadn't returned the belongings seized during the arrest. Furthermore, Mr. Yan's business was forced to close, leaving his family without an income.
Mr. Yan's mother, who is over 70 years old, hurried to Shanghai to appeal to the higher authorities to release her son, to no avail. Her health has deteriorated due to the stress of her family's situation.
Prior Arrests and Forced Labor
Because he upholds his right to practice Falun Gong, Mr. Yan has been arrested three times and held in a forced labor camp for three years.
Mr. Yan started practicing Falun Gong in 1997. After the Chinese Communist regime launched its persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Mr. Yan petitioned the government but was arrested and held in the Feng County Detention Center for 45 days. The police extorted tens of thousands of yuan in cash from his family prior to his release.
In early 2000, when Mr. Yan visited another practitioner with his wife, Ms. Lu Bo, all three were arrested and and detained for fifteen days.
At the end of 2000, Mr. Yan was arrested again in Guangzhou City and held in a forced labor camp for three years.
Financial Persecution
After he was released from the labor camp in early 2003, Mr. Yan was hired by a private enterprise in Shanghai. However, he was soon dismissed by the company due to pressure from the local Domestic Security Division.
Mr. Yan then found a new job in a German-funded enterprise. Domestic Security officers again tried to pressure his new employer, who stood firm and instead warned Mr. Yan to pay attention to his safety.
At the end of 2009, Mr. Yan opened his own business. Domestic Security officers threatened his landlord, trying to intimidate him into terminating his lease, and even harassed the other tenants. Luckily, Mr. Yan's landlord and the other tenants did not comply with the police demands.
