(Minghui.org) In its 18 years of persecuting Falun Gong, the Chinese Communist Party has not only tortured practitioners but also implicated their family members and others. Below are a selection of cases from a Minghui report published on July 13, 2016.
Family of Four Arrested
After a practitioner was arrested in Jimo City, Shandong Province, her non-practitioner daughter rushed home from college to find police officers searching her home. They arrested the daughter as well and took her to the detention center.
The family's lawyer tried to visit her in the detention center, but was denied visitation rights.
“She's just a young girl. What did she do wrong?” the lawyer said, “He mother was arrested. She returned home and was arrested too. When her father and grandmother, also non-practitioners, tried to visit the mother, they were arrested, too. Why could this happen? They didn't break any laws.”
Arrested While Visiting Friends
Ms. Li Honglei from Jimo City was visiting Sun Shuqing, another practitioner, on June 5, 2016 when she was arrested by local police.
The same night, Ms. Li's husband and mother-in-law, neither of whom practiced Falun Gong, went to the police station together with practitioner Zhang Pengwei to find out the reason for her arrest, only to be arrested themselves. Ms. Li's non-practitioner daughter, Ms. Huang Ruying, later learned of her mother's arrest and went home, where she, too, was arrested by officers ransacking the residence.
Practitioners' Husband Arrested
Practitioner Ms. Li Fanli from Jinan City, Shandong Province was arrested at a local train station on August 7, 2012, when she and her 8-year-old daughter were on their way to visit her parents.
Officers then went to their home and arrested her husband, Chen Guangchang, a local lawyer who did not practice Falun Gong. Their daughter was forced to watch her parents' trial in the detention center.
Practitioner's Wife Blackmailed, Driven to Suicide
On November 9, 2015, practitioner Zhang Yongkui was arrested in Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. His wife, Ms. Zhu Huiyuan, who was not a practitioner, went to the police station to demand his release. She was instead detained for 15 days.
After being released, Ms. Zhu continued to seek her husband's release. A police officer offered to free him in exchange for payment. However, after she paid, the officer reneged on the offer.
Mr. Zhang was sentenced to three years in March 2016. Ms. Zhu's last hope was broken, and she collapsed. On June 20, 2016, she committed suicide by jumping into a river. She was 46.
Practitioner Dies in Police Custody
Practitioner Li Wenjun from Jilin City, Jilin Province said the following in an article published on the Minghui website:
“A group of national security officers broke into my house on May 29, 2012. They ransacked my home and found Falun Gong books. They then called police. Two policemen restrained me while others searched my house.”
“At that time, Yu Xuezhong, a fellow practitioner, knocked on my door. He came to ask about car insurance. The police opened the door, and I heard yelling and a scuffle.”
“I later learned that the policemen dragged Mr. Yu from my door down the steps to the first floor of the building and into a police car. When I was released after 37 days, I was told that Mr. Yu had died in the police station from torture.”
Category: Perspective
