(Minghui.org) Eight Falun Gong practitioners in Hebei and Shanxi (two neighboring provinces) were arrested during a police sweep on August 30, 2019. Among them, three practitioners have been sentenced to 8 to 8.5 years and one still awaits verdict after more than two years of detention. The remaining four practitioners were released, but one of them has since passed away, and a married couple has been forced to live away from home to hide from the police.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Arrests
Ms. Li Yanqiu, Ms. Sun Liying, and Mr. Han Junde, of Baoding City, Hebei Province, were arrested first at an apartment they rented to make gourd carvings bearing messages about Falun Gong. Their gourd carving machine was confiscated. Later that day, the police also ransacked the practitioners’ respective homes and confiscated their Falun Gong books, computers, and printers.
Through tracking Mr. Han’s cell phone and the places he had been to, the police also arrested Ms. Cai Jinchuan and Ms. Cao Guihua of Wei County, Hebei Province. Ms. Cai’s husband, Mr. Guo Yuanrong, who happened to be working in Guangling County in the neighboring Shanxi Province, was also arrested along with two Guangling natives, Ms. Gao Sulan and Ms. Tian Jin’e.
Offices of Datong City Police Department and Guangling County Domestic Security Office in Shanxi Province confiscated Ms. Gao’s Falun Gong books, four cellphones, a laptop, a gourd carving machine, DVDs, and 164 gourds carved with “Falun Dafa is good.”
Ms. Cao also had 5,000 carved gourds confiscated from her. She was held at Zhangjiakou Lockup in Hebei for 15 days.
Additional Information of Ms. Cai’s Arrest
Ms. Cai’s daughter, son and his wife were having lunch at her home when over 30 police officers suddenly broke in and took their photos.
Li Junping, then director of Wei County Police Department, ordered five officers to stand at the door and prevent the family from leaving. They also snatched the cellphones from Ms. Cai’s children. When her son questioned the police why they took his phone, Li responded, “Shut up! You aren’t allowed to talk.”
Li ordered the officers to handcuff Ms. Cai’s son and threatened to arrest him if he talked again. As both his wife and Ms. Cai protested against the abuse of him, Li relented and opened the handcuff.
The police spent three hours searching Ms. Cai’s residence. Her three computers, a DVD burner, a gourd carving machine, some carved gourds, other crafts and paper-cutting on the wall, were also confiscated.
Married Couple Go Into Hiding
Ms. Cai held a hunger strike for eight days to protest the persecution while being held at the Zhangjiakou Women’s Detention Center. She became extremely weak and was released on bail.
After Mr. Guo was taken to the Hunyuan County Detention Center in Shanxi Province, he suffered high blood pressure and blood sugar, as well as heart palpitations. He was released on bail 30 days later.
The police and staff members from the procuratorate summoned the couple several times in October 2019 and attempted to force them to plead guilty for making promotional materials about Falun Gong.
One procuratorate staff member threatened to give Ms. Cai a heavy prison term if she didn’t plead guilty. He also said the decision came from city-level officials and they had to follow the order.
To avoid the persecution, the couple went into hiding.
In order to find them, Song Zhiqiang of the Guangling County Police Department found Mr. Guo’s son’s new residence on October 7, 2020, and kicked the door. His wife and newborn baby, who were having a nap, were woken up and terrified.
Song kept calling the couple’s son since then and harassed him for the couple’s whereabouts.
Three Sentenced
Ms. Li, Ms. Sun, and Mr. Han were tried by the Gaoyang County Court in Hebei Province in late 2019. Their families were informed on February 26, 2020, that Ms. Li and Ms. Sun were both given 8 years with an 8,000 yuan fine, and Mr. Han was sentenced to 8.5 years with a 10,000 yuan fine.
After Mr. Han was taken to the Jidong Prison in Tangshan City in June 2020, he was allowed to call home a few times over the next few months. After that, communication with his family was completely cut off. His wife, also in her 70s, feared for his safety and traveled 182 miles (291 km) from Baoding to Tangshan to see him. But her visit was denied.
One Passes Away
While being held at the Datong City Lockup in Shanxi Province, Ms. Tian was tied up in bed and forced to take blood pressure medicine. She was released 10 days later. Since then, she was under tremendous pressure fearing persecution. She suddenly passed away in May 2020. She was 57.
Prior to her last arrest, Ms. Tian was given one year of forced labor in 2006 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.
One Awaits Verdict
Ms. Gao has been detained at the Datong Women’s Detention Center in Shanxi Province since her arrest. She held ahunger strike to protest the persecution and fainted several times from force-feeding. The guards denied her family visits, citing the pandemic as an excuse. Her teenage daughter, who now lives with her aunt, longs for her mother’s return.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Li Junping (李俊平), chief of Xushui Police StationZhang Chengfu (张成富), director of Wei County Domestic Security Office: +86-13831309591Wang Lijun (王立军), officer of Wei County Domestic Security Office: +86-13663309550
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related reports:
Hebei Couple Forced to Live Away from Home to Avoid Possible Heavy Sentences for Their Faith
Elderly Man Denied Communication with Family, Wife Barred from Visiting Him in Prison
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