(Minghui.org) Six Falun Gong practitioners were illegally arrested in Xi'an on July 17, 2014, by officers who claimed that the villagers informed them that the practitioners were murderers. Two have been released, but four practitioners are still detained. The police have brought different charges against them to illegally extend their detention as they search for evidence to try them.
The Yanta District Domestic Security Division filed their case with the Yanta Procuratorate to approve their arrests of the four practitioners after they had been held for one month. Officer Yan Meiming and others tried to collect evidence during that time.
When the practitioners' three months of detention period was about to end, the police cited Article 154 of the Criminal Law and claimed that the practitioners committed the crime of smuggling. They submitted an application to the Xi'an City Procuratorate to extend the practitioners detention by one month in order to continue collecting evidence.
The police still couldn't find any evidence against the practitioners a month later. They then charged them with “colluding with smugglers” using Article 156 of the Criminal Law. They submitted the application to the Shaanxi Province Procuratorate, and requested an additional two months extension of evidence collection and detention. Their application is still being processed.
The practitioners' families have told the police that the practitioners were fired from their jobs because of their beliefs, and were doing business together. They have not committed any crime. The officers said that they will not release the practitioners because the Chinese Communist Party sees Falun Gong practitioners as an enemy of the country.
The detained practitioners are Mr. Song Zhi, Mr. Feng Xincheng, Mr. Yuan Guangwu, and Ms. Yang Yanyun.
Parties involved in the persecution:Mao Zunxing (毛尊兴), chief of the Yanta District Domestic Security Division: +86-18191036727, +86-29-85416926 (Office)Yan Meiming (闫楣明), officer of the Yanta District Domestic Security Division: +86-13909215277, +86-29-85416930 (Office)
Earlier report:Xi'an Police Tell Family, "We Don't Need a Reason to Arrest You!"