(Minghui.org) Two residents of Xuchang City, Henan Province have been detained for five months for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Pang Yonggang, 45, of Jian’an District, was arrested at home in July 2019 by officers from the Qilidian Village Police Station. 

Mr. Cai Junping, in the same district, was arrested on July 20, 2019 by officers from the Suqiao Village Police Station.

Both men have since been held at the Jian’an District Detention Center.

It was reported that their arrests were ordered by the Xuchang Political and Legal Affairs Committee, and the 610 Office, the former being an extrajudicial agency and the latter being an extralegal agency. Both agencies have been given power to override the legal system in carrying out the persecution of Falun Gong.

This isn’t the first time that Mr. Pang has been targeted for his faith. He was arrested in July 1999 for appealing for the right to practice Falun Gong in Beijing, and detained for three months. 

Mr. Pang was harassed several times in 2015 after he filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution of Falun Gong.