(Minghui.org) Ms. Yang Zhiyan was visiting a residential compound on business on February 24, 2014, when she encountered officer Cui Xinggui from the Muling Domestic Security Division. Cui recognized her as a Falun Dafa practitioner and illegally arrested her. She was dragged to a police car, her nose was injured, and the blood stained her face and clothing. She was taken to the No. 2 Police Station.
The police snatched her house keys, and several officers, including Sun Yajun (head of the Domestic Security Division) and Lu Zhenhua (head of the No. 2 Police Station), ransacked her home. Without showing a search warrant they thoroughly searched her home. They took a cell phone, computers, cash, business documents, and Falun Dafa books. These items have not been returned.
The police even intended to arrest Ms. Yang's husband, Yan Changfeng. Mr. Yan refused to go with them, saying that their daughter would be looking for them when she got home from school. After he promised to go to the police station in the afternoon, the police let him go. The police took the couple's residence ID before leaving.
Mr. Yan Changfeng had to pay 3,000 yuan to bail out his arrested wife.
Over the past 15 years, such incidents have occurred many times for this family, because they practice Falun Dafa.
Mr. Yan Changfeng has been arrested four times and harassed many times. The family has been forced to hand over 30,000 yuan in extortion payments. Mr. Yan was jailed for four years, from 2002 to 2006.
The wife, Ms. Yang Zhiyan, has also been arrested many times. She was detained in 2000 at the Muling City Detention Center, but was released after holding a 12-day hunger strike. She served two years of forced labor beginning in 2002.
When the persecution of Falun Dafa started, their daughter was only two years old. Every time her parents were harassed or arrested, she was intimidated, extremely nervous, and afraid to speak. These terrible experiences left an indelible mark.
Everyone in the family was always worried about each other, and wondered whether the others had been arrested.
Family Store Forced to Close
Mr. Yan, 44, previously owned a building materials store. He started to practice Falun Dafa with his wife in late 1998. His rheumatism was cured after practicing. With their one-year-old daughter, this family of three lived a prosperous, healthy, and secure life.
After the persecution started in 1999, the police often came to his store to harass him, and he had to close the store in 2001. The family lost their major source income and were afraid to return home.
Arrested for Appealing for Falun Dafa
Mr. Yan and his wife went to Beijing in June 2000 to appeal for Falun Dafa. He held up a banner at Tiananmen Square that said, “Falun Dafa Is Suffering the Worst Injustice in History.” Two officers took the banner, grabbed him by his hair, and dragged him into a police vehicle.
He was taken to the basement of the Tiananmen Police Station. There was no food or water, and the inmates were not allowed to use the restroom. Measuring less than 20 square meters in size, the basement area was air-tight with only a metal door. Practitioners from all over the country were crowded together. Sweat soaked their clothing.
More than 30 practitioners, who were numbered and handcuffed, were later transferred to Changping Detention Center in the outskirts of Beijing. Mr. Yan was interrogated by a police officer who kept yelling at him, slapping his face, and even spitting in his face.
The practitioners were threatened that if they refused to reveal their names and home addresses, they would be sent to the northeast or the Xinjiang desert region, where there were detention camps specifically for Falun Gong practitioners.
Hundreds of practitioners arrived in Beijing each day to appeal for Falun Dafa. On January 1, 2001 alone, at least 700 practitioners were arrested at Tiananmen Square. On average, police arrested a practitioner every two minutes.
When Mr. Yan was taken to the cell, the police told the head inmate to “give him a good lesson.” Several inmates stripped his clothes off and stole 300 yuan from him. They forced him to stand in the restroom and poured basins of cold water over him.
He was detained there for three days. He was forced to sit cross-legged from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. each day, and was beaten if he showed any slight disagreement. At night he had to sleep right beside the toilet.
5,000 Yuan Extorted
Mr. Yan told the police the name of his hometown in Shandong Province. Police from the Shandong Liaison Office in Beijing subsequently escorted him to Zhucheng City Detention Center in Shandong Province, where he was detained for ten days. He was forced to do slave labor during the day, and forced to stand at night. He had only four hours of sleep at night. His hands were covered with blisters and became infected due to the forced labor.
Cao Jinhui, head of the Domestic Security Division, threatened to put Mr. Yan into a forced labor camp for two years. After Cao got 5,000 yuan from Mr. Yan's family, Mr. Yan was allowed to be bailed out. He later learned that while he was in Beijing, the police had been to his home several times, demanding that he write a guarantee statement.
Both Arrested, Fined 2,500 Yuan
Officers Wang Hongmin and Yang Xiaojun from the No.1 Police Station broke into their house in late 2000, from the backyard. They didn't show a search warrant, and called in other officers. The couple's three-year-old daughter was scared and started to cry, and their 60-year-old mother begged them not to arrest good people.
The police dragged the daughter away and arrested the couple.
Mr. Yan was held in the detention center for more than 30 days. He was forced to sit on a stool for more than ten hours per day, and was given only one steamed corn cake per meal. After Kong Qingzhong, head of the Domestic Security Division, hit the family up for 2,500 yuan, Mr. Yan was released.
Mr. Yan's wife was detained for over two months. She started a hunger strike in the detention center. Twelve days later, near death, she was finally allowed to return home with her family.
Arrested Again and Robbed of 1,000 Yuan
Kong Qingzhong, head of the Domestic Security Division, along with police officer Wang Yongan, broke into their house again in March 2001. Mr. Yan, with his wife and 4-year-old daughter, escaped out the back door. The family found another place to live for over a year to try to avoid further persecution.
On May 7, 2002, Mr. Yan and his 5-year-old daughter went to a mall to buy ink. The store owner reported them to police. They were taken to the Domestic Security Division in Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province. His daughter was detained alone for six hours. The police threatened and deceived her into giving them information.
Mr. Yan was searched. His cell phone and 1,000 yuan in cash were taken from him, and he was taken to Yangming Police Station. The deputy said they had been watching him for several days, and threatened to take away his daughter. He was tortured during the interrogation. They pulled his handcuffs back and forth to make the handcuffs tighten up and cut deep into his flesh, down to the bone. Both of his hands were numb for more than a month.
Both Sentenced to Detention, Daughter and Grandmother Have a Hard Time
Mr. Yan was sentenced to four years in jail in May 2002. He was detained at Mudanjiang Prison in Heilongjiang Province.
His wife was arrested while picking up their daughter at school. She was sentenced to two years of forced labor and sent to Harbin Addiction Treatment Center.
Their daughter had to live with her grandmother. They lived a hard life.
Mr. Yan was forced to do slave labor in Mudanjiang Prison, which included sewing cushions. A 48-pound shackle was put on him twice, and he was put in solitary confinement for 30 days. The solitary cell was small like a coffin, with only a bowl-sized opening for air circulation. He was fed only one steamed cake per day. The cell was cold like ice during the winter, and hot like a steamer in summer. He had difficulty walking when he was released. During his detention, inmates were assigned to monitor his every move. He was not allowed to study the Fa or do the exercises.
Arrested Again, 5,000 Yuan Extorted from Mr. Yan's Family
Mr. Yan was arrested again on August 13, 2008. After Zhou Xinsheng, head of the Domestic Security Division, extorted 5,000 yuan from Mr. Yan's family, Mr. Yan avoided being sent to the forced labor camp. Zhou threatened him, “If you get caught again, there will be no exception.”
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