52 Practitioners Detained in the Mental Hospital Released; They Might Be Detained Again After Chinese New Year
January 22, 2000
All 52 practitioners who had been detained in Zhou-kou-dian hospital for mental patients were released today. 21 of them were released after their family members paid the "deposit". The rest of them started hunger strike last morning. Meanwhile, American journalists went to the hospital in order to interview the practitioners. The Chinese government had to release the practitioners under the pressure. But the government claimed that the practitioners were freed only for celebrating the upcoming Chinese New Year. They might be detained again after the Chinese New Year.
News from Jin-men, Hubei Province: Many Practitioners Arrested, Including the Head of a Local Police Station
January 21, 2000
Before November of 1999, more than twenty practitioners from Jin-men County were detained, and a dozen of them were released later. In December 1999, practitioners from Jin-men County began to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. It was estimated that one hundred practitioners went to Beijing. About one hundred practitioners from Jin-men County and other places rented a house in Beijing together. Just before the New Year's Day, the police found the house and arrested many of them.
It was reported by "Jin-men Daily" that from December 1 to December 30,64 practitioners had gone to Beijing. The police officers from Jin-men County escorted all of them back to Jin-men on January 2nd of 2000.Currently, more than twenty practitioners including Long Ting and Zhou Ping, who are a couple, Chi Bao-shen, Zhu Cui-hua, Li Qin-xia and Liu De-yu etc have been sentenced to one to three years of forced labor "education". All of them have already been sent to labor camps. Another twenty practitioners are still being detained in the police station. In addition, more than a dozen practitioners are detained in the detention center, and another dozen of practitioners are being detained in at ethnical school. The contact person of Jin-men Falun Gong assistance center, Meng Xiang-long, was also arrested. Jin-men County has become the focus of Hubei Province for persecuting Falun Gong practitioners.
Chi Bao-shen, who was the head of Yue-liang-hu police station, and ZhuCui-hua, were both contact people of Falun Gong. They went to Beijing on July 22 to appeal for Falun Dafa. Three months later, when they went to the appealing offices to appeal, they were arrested and escorted back to their hometown in Jin-men County. Since July 22 of 1999, many practitioners have gone to Beijing many times.
Shuang-liu Communist Authorities Humiliated Practitioners by Parading Them Through Street on Market Day
January 21, 2000
January 8 was the market day of Peng-jia Town of Shuang-liu County, Si-chuan Province. On that day, the local police paraded 15practitioners who had gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong through the street in the chilly wind. These 15 practitioners were all barefooted. The street was full of people watching.