(Minghui.org) Zhang Xuming has been persecuting Falun Gong practitioners for personal gain since he became director of the Yizhang County Domestic Security Team in 2008. He has personally arrested many practitioners, and extorted more than 100,000 yuan from them.
Zhang and his colleagues routinely steal cash, cell phones, and other valuables from the practitioners they arrest. They also try to extort as much money as they can from the practitioners' families, by falsely promising to release the practitioners or go easy on them.
Zhuang has persecuted practitioners Mr. Song Zhenhai and his wife, Ms. Wang Qiufen.
Mr. Song was giving Shen Yun DVD’s to several villagers on May 25, 2014, when someone reported him to the police. Officers from the Ducunji Town Police Station then arrested him and took him to the Linzhang County Police Department. They confiscated 10,000 yuan in cash from him.
When Ms. Wang went to the police department to inquire about Mr. Song on June 6, 2014, Zhang illegally detained her. She was released a month later, and the 10,000 yuan confiscated from her husband was used to pay the fine for which she was charged.
Zhang extorted more money from Mr. Song's family by telling them to pay an additional 2,000 yuan to get Mr. Song's car back. After the payment was made, Zhang refused to return the car.
After her release, Ms. Wang began appealing for her husband's release while filing complaints against Zhang with the provincial and municipal governments. As a result, a higher official requested that Linzhang County release Mr. Song, but police directors Hu Dangshun and Zhang refused to do so, unless the family paid another 10,000 yuan. Mr. Song's family refused to cooperate.
Zhang then used his personal connections with officials in the court and the Procuratorate to put Mr. Song on trial.
Mr. Song was sentenced to three years in jail by the Linzhang County Court in November 2014. He then appealed to the Handan Intermediate Court. The Handan Intermediate Court refused to uphold the sentence, and ordered the Linzhang County Court to re-evaluate Mr. Song's case in December 2014.
This is not the first time Zhang has persecuted Mr. Song. Mr. Song was arrested while talking to people about Falun Gong and the persecution on January 15, 2012. Zhang and several officers went to Mr. Song’s home and ransacked it. They also extorted money from his family.
Mr. Song was held in Handan Forced Labor Camp for more than a year.