(Minghui.org) Thirteen Falun Gong practitioners in Cangzhou City and nearby regions in Hebei Province were arrested and another dozen practitioners were harassed for their faith since January 2019.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the communist regime since 1999.
Five practitioners, including Mr. Wang Deyou, Ms. Zhuang Zixue, Mr. Zhang Zhenwei, Ms. Pang Huixia, Ms. Liu Zaiyun, remain in police custody at the time of writing.
One practitioner suffered a stroke during the police raid and remains in critical condition.
Thirteen Arrested
Mr. Wang Deyou was arrested on January 4, 2019 for distributing Chinese New Year paintings with information about Falun Gong. He was interrogated and tortured on January 7, as the police tried to force him to reveal the source of the paintings. He is currently being detained at the Huanghua Detention Center.
Mr. Teng Yiquan, Ms. Zhuang Zixue, and three female practitioners in their seventies and eighties were arrested on January 10. The three elderly practitioners (names unknown) and Mr. Teng were released around January 21, while Ms. Zhuang remains at Cangzhou City Detention Center.
Mr. Zhang Zhenwei and his wife Ms. Pang Huixia were arrested on January 15 and February 22. The couple are held at Cangzhou City Detention Center.
Ms. Liu Zaiyun and Mr. Hou Dongliang were arrested on January 16. The police waited outside Ms. Liu's apartment and arrested Mr. Hou when he came to visit her. Both practitioners had their homes ransacked by the police later that evening. Over 10,000 yuan in cash and many other personal belongings of Ms. Liu's were confiscated.
Ms. Liu is detained at the Cangzhou City Detention Center. She protested the persecution by holding a hunger strike. Mr. Hou was released on bail on February 22.
The police harassed Ms. Zhang Junying's daughter and then arrested her on the Lantern Festival on February 19, the last day of the Chinese New Year holiday season. The police didn't allow Ms. Zhang to put on her shoes and jacket when taking her to the police station. Ms. Zhang has been released at the time of writing.
Mr. Ti Changsheng was taken from his home on February 21 and kept in the police custody for a few days. The car he just bought was confiscated by the police.
Ms. Wang Xiaohua was arrested and had her home ransacked on March 6, 2019, for posting poetry about Falun Gong on her door. According to her neighbors, the officers had been monitoring Ms. Wang prior to the arrest.
Ms. Wang held a hunger strike for four days at the police station and was released on March 10.
Ms. Wang used to suffer severe stomach problems, back pain, and many other ailments. All of her problems disappeared after she began to practice Falun Gong since 1997. Her husband passed away in early 2000 and she raised her two children by herself. She also took care of her bedridden, incontinent mother-in-law for eight years until she passed away. She was given forced labor in 2008, during which she was beaten, deprived of sleep, not allowed to take showers and forced to work more than 17 hours a day for upholding her faith.
At Least a Dozen Harassed
In addition to the practitioners arrested around the Chinese New Year, another dozen practitioners were harassed for their faith.
Chen Jingwu and Chen Xiumin in Daguanting Township were harassed by officers from Cang County Police Department on January 18, 2019.
Ms. Li Jiarong, a resident of Huanghua City (under the jurisdiction of Cangzhou City), fell into a coma after police knocked on her door and raided her home at 4 p.m. on February 14, 2019. She didn't respond when her neighbors called her at 5:30 p.m. Her neighbors went to her home at 7 p.m. to check on her, only to find her lying on the ground unconscious. They took her to the hospital. Doctors found that she had had a stroke and operated on her brain immediately. She is still in critical condition at the time of writing.
Ms. Li began to practice Falun Gong in 1997 and she credited the practice for curing her many physical conditions. She appealed for Falun Gong in Beijing after the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999. She was arrested and detained for more than 40 days and fined 3,000 yuan.
On the same day when Ms. Li was harassed, the officers also harassed another practitioner in the same village, Ms. Huo Wenling.
On February 19, practitioners in six villages, including Baima, Guyuean, Zaolin, Lusi, Cecheng, and Liuchang, were harassed.
Officers from Dongguang County Domestic Security Division broke into Mr. Wang Enpu's home on March 6 while no one was home. They searched his home and took away his Falun Gong books and other Falun Gong-related items.
