Over 30 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Laishui County, Hebei Province

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Officials from several townships in Laishui County arrested over 30 Falun Gong practitioners on June 12th, 2010. Many of these practitioners have been sentenced to forced labour. Each practitioner's home was also ransacked by over a dozen officers. Below is a partial account of the events.

1. Yang Xifang and his wife Yu Fenyun arrested

Police officers broke into and ransacked Ms. Yu Fenyun' s home in the afternoon of June 12th. They took away her savings and arrested Ms. Yu. She was taken to the Shiting Township Police Station in Laishui County.

Mr. Yang Xifang, Ms. Yu's husband, went to Shiting Township to look for his wife when he did not find her at home and was also arrested. The husband and wife were sent to a forced labour camp the next day, while their child was left at home alone and with no money for living expenses. The police did not follow any legal procedures and did not notify the couple's family members.

Practitioners Mr. Yang and Ms. Yu are residents of Dachitu in Shiting Township, Laishui County. They lost their jobs and suffered through multiple previous arrests and detentions due to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong. The CCP officials also repeatedly harassed them and ransacked their home over the past 10 years.

On August 10th, 2000, CCP officials led by Sun Guijie pushed Mr. Yang to the ground and repeatedly beat him using leather belts, wooden sticks, and a bamboo board until his body was bruised and swollen all over. He was taken into custody, where officers led by Liu Yaohua slapped his face with a shoe and beat him again the next night until they broke several wooden sticks and bamboo boards. He was beaten four times within two days. His whole body was bruised, and he could not walk unassisted or even roll over in bed. He was released after paying a fine of 3,300 yuan1, and then was fined another 1,000 yuan upon returning home. Officers led by Dong Shujun, Li Zhengong, and Xia Xiaodong also ransacked his home.

In 2002, Wang Fucai and other agents from the Laishui County 610 Office [an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong] sent Ms. Yu to Nanma Brainwashing Centre in Zhuozhou, Hebei Province, where she was brutally tortured. She was not allowed to sleep for five consecutive days and nights, and was beaten every time she closed her eyes. One night, Wang Lei and several other officials dragged her to an empty room, tied her to a chair and force-fed her unknown drugs, as a result of which her body and mouth produced a very bad odour. After the force-feeding, they carried her to another room and pushed her to the floor, which was covered with water. When her whole body convulsed, they proceeded to poke her fingers with big needles.

2. Husband and Wife, Li Zhenfang and Li Zhenxian, persecuted for over a decade

Ms. Li Zhenxian from Anyang Village of Loucun Township, Laishui County, was arrested in the afternoon of June 12th. Her whereabouts are unknown.

Police from Loucun Township also tracked Ms. Li's husband, Mr. Li Zhenfang, who was forced to leave home in order to avoid being arrested.

Mr. Li has suffered repeated persecution since 1999. Following an arrest of Mr. Li in April 2000, CCP officials led by Sun Guijie took off his clothes and beat him with a heavy, wet rope until his body was covered with bruises and swollen, as a result of which he had trouble walking.

Police from Loucun Township arrested him again and sent him to Laishui County Detention Centre in July 2002. There he was forced to sleep on a cold cement floor in cold winter and perform hard labour from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. or later. Due to the persecution suffered in the detention centre, half of his body became paralyzed and he looked like an elderly man, even though he was only in his 40s. Following a six-month detention, he was sent to Baoding Forced Labour Camp. The officials there refused to accept him due to his poor physical condition and he was subsequently released.

On October 7th, 2009, Wang Jinshi, the director of the Loucun Township Police Station, pushed Mr. Li into a car and took him to Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp. Since Mr. Li's physical condition did not permit him to handle hard labour, the labor camp refused to accept him and Wang sent him back home.

3. Mr. Zeng Jianzhong arrested and sent to forced labour camp, his home ransacked

Mr. Zeng Jianzhong, a bank economist from Laishui People's Bank, was arrested at his home by seven or eight police officers from Laishui County in the morning of June 12th. The officers also ransacked his home and confiscated his laptop, a copy of the Falun Gong book, Zhuan Falun, and other Falun Gong books. He was sent to Gaoyang Forced Labour Camp in the morning of June 14th.

Mr. Zeng was previously detained at the Yi County Detention Centre in 2001, and was also sent by his work unit to brainwashing centres located in Laishui and Zhuozhou several times. He was also once detained at Laishui County Detention Centre.

4. Other practitioners also arrested, their homes ransacked

The following practitioners were also persecuted by police on June 12th, in Laishui County:

Song Shuhua from Mingyi Township was arrested and sentenced to forced labour. Song's home was also ransacked, with her computer and printer confiscated by police.

Liu Yonghua, Liu Shuhong, and three other practitioners from Mingyi Township were arrested. Liu Yonghua and another practitioner were later released.

The police also ransacked the homes of the other practitioners on the same day.

In addition, several other practitioners from Yi'an Township and Dongjiazhuang Village were also harassed and had their homes ransacked by police on the same day.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2010/6/17/225539.html


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