(Minghui.org) Mr. Xiong Huifeng (熊辉丰), an accomplished space scientist and former director on the board of the Chinese Society of Astronautics, was arrested at his home in Tianjin on August 26, 2014.
He was dragged out of his apartment building, shoved into a police vehicle, and taken to the Nankai District Detention Center. The local procuratorate approved the arrest on September 9. If it accepts his case, Mr. Xiong may face an illegal trial.
Some of the police officers stayed behind and ransacked his apartment. They confiscated his personal belongings such as a laptop, a printer, cash, and Falun Gong materials. His family signed the list of confiscated items but didn't get to keep a copy of it.
This is the fourth time he has been unlawfully arrested and detained since the persecution began in 1999.
Mr. Xiong is 76 years old and lives in the Nankai District of Tianjin. He used to be a researcher and the vice director of the 8358 Research Institute of the Ministry of Space Industry. He was also a former director on the board of the Chinese Society of Astronautics and enjoyed the special government allowance reserved for the best scientists in the nation. His coworkers remembered him as always reading, researching, and writing books.
Mr. Xiong's health deteriorated after spending so much time working. In 1995, he came across Zhuan Falun on a business trip. Amazed by the profound principles of the teachings, he became a practitioner right away. His wife and son later joined him.
Mr. Xiong was put in a forced labor camp for three years starting in 2000. During that time, officers from Wangdingti Police Station frequently harassed his family.
While Mr. Xiong was in the labor camp, his employer, the 8358 Research Institute of the Ministry of Space Industry, cut his salary, giving barely enough to cover basic living expenses. His special government allowance was also stopped.
He was denied across-the-board cost of living salary raises during the three years. As a result, his monthly pension is now about 1,000 yuan less than a comparable colleague's.
Mr. Xiong's wife and son were taken to a brainwashing center in 2001. The couple was arrested again in 2008 before the Beijing Olympics.
Years of police harassment, multiple arrests, and home searches have taken a toll on Mr. Xiong's wife. She is unable to fall asleep unless she knows that her family is with her. She tells her children “Your father has been taken away again!” whenever she doesn't see him for a short while.
Wangdingti Police Station:Director, +86-22-23695598 (Office)Yu Yong (于涌), police officer, +86-13820773539 (Mobile)Du Zhihong (杜志洪), police officer, +86-13302114418 (Mobile)Nankai Police Department Detention Center:Chai Shugang (柴树刚), director, +86-13302051890 (Mobile)Nankai Police Department:Zuo Lin (左林), chief, +86-13802106489 (Mobile) , +86-13920461373 (Mobile)Wang Kai (王凯), officer of the Domestic Security Division, +86-22-27532579 (Office), +86-13821319049 (Mobile)