(Minghui.org) More than 60 Falun Gong practitioners in Tianshui City, Gansu Province, were illegally arrested on December 28, 2013. Ten of them are still in detention a year later.
The arrested practitioners include:
Ms. Li Cuifang, 71, from the Qinzhou District, Tianshui City, was arrested at home around 9:00 a.m. on December 28, 2013. The police confiscated her computer, printer, Falun Gong books, and pictures of Falun Gong's founder Mr. Li Hongzhi. Four police officers broke in and ransacked her store.
Mr. Li Yikui, 65, was arrested at around 6:00 a.m. on December 28, 2013. Right after he left home, the police, who had been hiding outside, arrested him. They then ransacked his home, and confiscated his computer and printer.
Ms. Ma Xiaojuan, 70, was arrested at around 8:00 a.m. on December 28, 2013. She was at home printing calendars with truth-clarification information about Falun Gong when her grandson went outside and two police officers rushed through the door. They arrested Ms. Ma and her husband. The also confiscated three computers, a printer, and a paper cutter.
Mr. Qiao Wencheng, 46, was arrested at home at around 8:00 a.m. The police took his computer, printer, and ten cell phones worth more than 15,000 yuan.
Mr. Zhang Zhiming, 37, was arrested at 9:00 a.m. on his way home. The police ransacked his home and confiscated his computer, printer, and printer paper.
Mr. Wang Minghui, 69, started practicing Falun Gong before the persecution began on July 20, 1999. Before that, he had liver cancer. His wife had divorced him and remarried, and he lived alone. After he became a Falun Gong practitioner, his cancer disappeared. At around 6:00 a.m. on December 28, 2013, the police broke into his home by climbing over a wall and arrested him. They also took his computer and printer. Many of his neighbors surrounded his house and witnessed the arrest.
Mr. Yu Yongming, 46, was arrested at around 6:00 a.m. on December 28, 2013. The police broke through the door and entered when he was asleep. As he was being taken away, Mr. Yu's wife shouted in the courtyard for help. His father came and tried to reason with the police. His sister also came and asked the police to warm themselves inside while they spoke with Mr. Yu's father. While the police were talking indoors, Mr. Yu escaped.
In the spring of 2014, when Mr. Yu used his personal ID to buy a train ticket in Lanzhou City, the ticket seller noticed his ID number was listed as “Wanted by Police.” The Lanzhou Railway Police then arrested him. Mr. Yu was shackled and tortured on a tiger bench in prison, but he managed to escape again.
The police pressured all the arrested practitioners to sign statements slandering Falun Gong and promising to give up the practice. The practitioners who signed the statements were released.
Ms. Guo Jumei refused to sign. She told the police that she had been arrested three times before for her belief and asked why were they arresting her again. She was subsequently released. Another practitioner was also released after stating plans to complain about the officers to their supervisors.
Ten practitioners are still being detained for refusing to sign the statements. Some have been illegally sentenced to prison terms. The rest are still detained, even though the police are only legally allowed to hold them for 30 days. Moreover, the local Procuratorate returned their cases twice for “lack of evidence.” The police can't find more “evidence,” but they continue to detain the practitioners illegally.
Mr. Zhang Zhiming Held for More Than Nine Months on Fabricated Evidence, Now Facing Trial