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Latest News from China - 07/04/2000

July 9, 2000

[Liaoning Province] The truth of Falun Dafa Began to Spread

On July 1, Falun Dafa materials were found posted along the streets of Benxi City. The posted information drew wide attention and feedback from the general public and the truth of Falun Dafa began to spread in the society.

[Beijing] Junior Practitioners Appealed At the Tiananmen Square

On July 2, several junior practitioners practiced Falun Gong in the center of Tiananmen Square. The police tried to disperse them and take them away, but did not succeed in several attempts. The scene attracted many spectators and the junior practitioners' spirit moved many of them into tears.

[Mainland China]

As Teacher's new article "A Reference for Prophecies" was circulated, the central government has ordered all levels of governments and police departments to track down the sources and spreaders of the article. So far, a large number of practitioners across the country have been arrested.

[Mainland China]

Despite the fact that the truth of Falun Gong is more and more revealed to the general public, the Chinese government has still not faced up to and taken actions to correct the serious mistakes it made on the issue of Falun Gong. According to internal sources, the central government has recently issued a confidential document to the provincial level as follows: take strong measures against the few organizers; limit the number of practitioners in labor camps by detaining and releasing repeatedly; sentence practitioners under other charges instead of Clause 300 of the Criminal Law.

[Hebei Province] A So-called "Open" Trial

Ms. Zhang Wenjing and Mr. Wu Jinhu, Dafa practitioners from Shijiazhuang City, were detained on February 25 under the charge of organizing Falun Gong group practice at the Hebei Theater during the Spring Festival. After one month's detention, their penalty was changed to criminal arrest on March 25. At 9am of June 14, the People's Court of Changan District of Shijiazhuang City held the 1st-round trial of them. Ironically, the Court only posted a notice on a sheet of 8.5x11inch paper at its gate, instead of using the usual large-sized paper. Even the police was amused by the trick.

Even during such an "open" trial, only 2 family members of each practitioner were allowed to be present. All others were the working staff of the Court. The two practitioners were not given an opportunity to voice their opinions. But they still expressed their unshakable position: Falun Dafa is truly virtuous, and they will continue to practice cultivation in whatever harsh environment.

Outside the Court, over 40 practitioners waited along the roadside until the trial finished at 10:00am. The practitioners showed their respect to Zhang Wenjing and Wu Jinhu in the police vehicle and saw them off on the site.

Both Ms. Zhang Wenjing (53 years old) and Mr. Wu Jinhu underwent brutal torturing during their detention.

Ms. Shi Jinhua, another practitioner from Shijiazhuang City, was detained on the eve of Spring Festival. She also went through the 1st-round trial on June 15 at the People's Court in Qiaoxi District under the charge of organizing Falun Gong group practice at the Hebei Theater during the Spring Festival. The Court did not inform anyone, even Ms. Shi's family of the trial. During the detention, Ms. Shi Jinhua was denied of family visits or any logistics brought to her. Therefore, she had been wearing the winter clothes before the trial. She was forced to work at least 17 hours a day so that she could not learn and practice Falun Gong. She was forced to labor at least 17 hours a day. Ms. Shi did not defend herself during the trial, but only emphasized that the TV reports (about Falun Dafa) were way too deviating from truth and Falun Dafa was virtuous.

At present, Zhang Wenjing, Wu Jinhu and Shi Jinhua were jailed in No.1 Detention Center (of Shijiazhuang City).

[Hubei Province] 6 Falun Gong Practitioners' Lives in Shiyan City on the Line

Starting April 18, Shiyan City of Hubei Province illegally detained some Dafa practitioners from the urban areas in 3 separate places in the mountains and tried to forcefully brainwash them in the name of "legal education classes".

The "classes" expect to last 2 months in each of the two expected runs. The municipal Party Committee required that at the end of such "classes" each practitioner must write a pledge promising not to appeal, not to associate and not to practice Falun Gong, etc. Otherwise, they would not be allowed to go home and would be given forced-labor penalty. Under constant pressure from the government officials and their work units, a few practitioners agreed to certain requirements and were released. Other practitioners are still detained in the "classes" for refusing to write the pledge.

Six practitioners in one of the three classes started hunger strike on June 26 and their lives are in great danger now.

[Beijing] The Police at Tiananmen Square Partnered with Local Ruffians to Persecute Dafa Practitioners

I am a practitioner of Falun Dafa. On the morning of June 25, I went to Tiananmen Square to appeal for Falun Dafa. Just after I unfurled a banner reading "Return innocence to Falun Dafa!", a bunch of messily dressed ruffians came up to beat me and tried to seize my banner. When their attempt was blocked by other Dafa practitioners, they started to yell to call in more people from the crowds. While beating us, they put their hands into our pockets to search for money.

Then I realized that those people were actually not plain-clothes police. So I questioned them what they were doing. Upon hearing my questioning, a policeman armed to the teeth came over angrily and started beating me while cursing me. Then the police and the local ruffians together pushed us onto the police vehicles. Many practitioners had blood all over their body and clothes torn apart. Some practitioners were bitten by the police for holding tightly onto the banner. One female practitioner with 6 months' pregnancy was seized by hair, beaten and kicked by the police when being pushed onto the police vehicle. The scene was witnessed by many spectators, including some foreign tourists.

Many practitioners were robbed of their money after we were taken to the Tiananmen police station. As far as I knew, one practitioner from Heilongjiang province was robbed of 800 Yuan. A practitioner from Sichuan province was robbed of over 500 Yuan. Another practitioner from Jiangxi province was robbed of 300 Yuan. The police hiring local rogues as hatchet men has become a laughing stock among the public.

[Shenzhen] A Sweeping Arrest in Shenzhen City

On June 30, the police station in Nanshan district of Shenzhen City took an unanimous action against all Falun Dafa practitioners in this district. The practitioners were detained after being summoned to the police station and then sent to either Nanshan Detention Center or Shekou Detention Center. The exact number of detainees and dates of detention are not clear.

[Hebei Province]

In this Spring, many practitioners from Wei county went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. In order to prevent more practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal, many towns and villages in the county rounded up practitioners and illegally restrained their physical freedom. During the illegal detention, many practitioners were severely tortured with leather belts and electrical rods and some were imposed of stiff fines.

[Sichuan Province] Current Situation of Persecutions against Falun Gong practitioners in Chengdu City

Jianshelu Police Station: Li Chaoqun (female) was arrested when she was in Beijing to tell the central government the truth of Falun Gong on June 17. Afterwards, she was escorted back to Jianshelu police station and was severely tortured by the police.. Now she has been sent to Lianhua Village Detention Center for criminal detention.

Li Bidong (female, 59 years old) was arrested in Beijing when she tried to tell the central government the truth of Falun Gong. Later, she was also escorted back to Jianshelu police station where she was handcuffed for long hours. She has been sent to Lianhua Village Detention Center.

Practitioner L (female, 57 years old) was taken away from her home on June 28 by the police from Jianshelu police station who broke into her home and requested information about her son's whereabouts but she. After she said that she was not aware his whereabouts, the police took her to the police station, handcuffed her, and hang her on the wall for over 10 hours. After being illegally detained for over 60 hours, she was released at 3pm on July 1st.

Practitioner T (female, 25 years old) spoke of the following when she was called in to have a talk with the "7-member Falun Gong special commission" from Hongguang Industrial Co., Ltd.: "By telling me things in Beijing, are you encouraging me to go there and appeal?" "The previous pledge was written under pressure and therefore is invalid!" "Did you claim at the human rights conference that you treated us very well and did not impose fines? Then why does the company impose a fine of 10,000 Yuan on each practitioner appealing in Beijing? Is that a local policy or the central government's intention?"

At around 11pm, two members of the "special commission" took her to Jianshelu police station. After several hours' handcuffing, and over 10 hours' detention in an iron cage, she was allowed to go home at 2pm on July 1.

So far, many practitioners are still detained in the police station.

Information about Jianshelu police station:

Address: Jianshenan Street, Chengdu City.

Tel: (011-86-28) 433-1256

Director: Mr. Liu

1, Yulin Police Station:

On the night of June 29, Yulin police station received a notice from upper levels and convened an urgent meeting. After the meeting finished, the police took 6 practitioners (He Changyuan, Peng Heyi, Dong Weifang, etc.) from the "education classes", who they believed would mostly likely go to Beijing to appeal, to Lianhua Village for criminal detention.

There are currently 30 practitioners in the "education classes" of Yulin police station. They are detained in the basement of the police station from 5pm to 10:30pm everyday and forced to watch pornography and violence videos.

Information about Yulin police station:

Address: Yulinxi Rd. Chengdu City

Tel: (011-86-28) 555-3503

2, Seamless Steel Tube Factory, etc.:

In order to prevent practitioners from going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, many enterprises in Chengdu took strong measures to persecute Falun Gong and used it as a criterion for performance evaluation.

3, All Plice Departments of Chengdu City:

Recently, Chengdu City dispatched a large police force to Xian, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang, Beijing etc. to search for Falun Gong practitioners from Chengdu on the trains coming from Sichuan to Beijing. Many practitioners were intercepted but many succeeded in arriving in Beijing.

Since many practitioners refused to tell their names to the police, local police stations in Chengdu have sent out personnel to Beijing to identify them.

[Shanghai] Practitioners Were Taken Away for No Reason

At dawn on June 29, the police in Pudong district of Shanghai took three practitioners who were living together away from their apartment in the name of "taking a census". Soon afterwards, 8 policemen went back with one practitioner to ransack the apartment, without showing any ID's. So far, one practitioner has been bailed out from the police by his/her work unit. The whereabouts of the other two remains unknown.

It was reported that some practitioners in Puxi district were also arrested around 11pm yesterday evening.