(Minghui.org) Approximately two weeks prior to the annual legislative session of the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 5, 2014, persecution accounts increased substantially in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province.
According to an inside source, local authorities were instructed by their superiors in the government to ransack practitioners' homes, provide video recordings of the aftereffects and take notes or obtain signatures on a form, as proof that they indeed executed their instructions. This directive was issued as a means to restrain any potential attempt by Falun Gong practitioners to appeal during the NPC's legislative session.
Police and neighborhood committee members involved in these acts, often entered practitioners' homes under the guise of needing to check their water meters. They would not provide their IDs and claimed that they were required to take photos or video recordings. Upon leaving, they ordered practitioners to sign a form, confirming their presence.
Many practitioners were robbed of their personal possessions during these unlawful activities, and many were arrested when Falun Gong books and related materials were discovered during these ransacks.
Some police were sympathetic and understood the truth regarding the persecution, and chose not to follow their superiors' orders. Some would only call practitioners for information and did not make any arrests. Others even notified practitioners in advance of the authorities' planned visits.
Since February 27, 2014, officers from the Nanyang Police Station in Chang'an District have conspired with Nanyang's local officials to ransack practitioners' homes. Falun Gong books were confiscated and one arrest was made. They asked practitioners to sign a form, in order to prove that they had been there. Many practitioners refused to cooperate.
Several officers from the Qingyuan Street Police Station in Chang'an District broke into an elderly practitioner's home with a search warrant on the morning of February 27. They confiscated several Falun Gong books. They also harassed another practitioner in the Fanhua area that afternoon.
Officers from the Changfeng Police Station harassed Zhao Zhimin, who lived on Yanxi Street, on the afternoon of February 27. When the neighborhood committee member and two police entered his home, they immediately searched it and confiscated two MP3 players.
Officer Gao Jinfeng and his colleague from Penghou Street Police Station broke into the home of Ms. Du Lanmei on the afternoon of February 28. She was pressured to sign a form confirming that they had been there. During the process, her elderly grandmother was severely traumatized. Ms. Liu Suling, a tenant in the same building, was also harassed to sign the form, but she firmly refused. Police also harassed Gao Hanzong, who refused to open his door.
On March 3 and 4, officers from Ningan Road Police Station harassed a dozen practitioners and ransacked their homes.
Police went to the home of Song Aichang in No. 54 residential area on the evening of March 3. Several police waited around the building, while several ran upstairs to knock on the door. With no response, they left shortly afterwards.
Officer Zhao Zhanlin and others from Zhaolingpu Police Station, Xinhua District harassed Qi Xiangcai on the morning of March 4. He refused to sign their form to confirm their presence, and they left after confiscating a videotape.
Officers from Donghuan Police Station together with a neighborhood committee member, harassed Sun Tao's family on the afternoon of March 5. An elderly family member in failing health was severely traumatized by the incident. Since the event, her condition has deteriorated.
Four officers from Zhengding County knocked on the door of a practitioner's home in the Jinxing area at 7:30 a.m. on March 5. On account that they would not identify themselves, he did not open his door. They left shortly after. However, a practitioner on Xibei Street, Zhengding County was arrested, and the details are unknown.