(Minghui.org) In an orchestrated sweep, police from Maoming City, Guangdong Province raided the homes of four Falun Gong practitioners several hours apart on November 19. A total of 10 people, two of whom are not practitioners, were illegally arrested.
According to insiders, the targets of the raids – Dr. Wu Zhiqi, Mr. Mai Zhizhong, Mr. Ke Zhengji and Ms. Xie Yilan – had been monitored for months before the police launched the coordinated attacks on their homes.
In September, all four were forced to have their pictures taken and IDs checked when they attended the trial of a local resident charged with practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual practice being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
After the trial, the police hired people from the area to keep tabs on the four for months before storming their houses. Though the family members and friends arrested along with the practitioners were later released, the four practitioners remain in detention at the time of writing.
About 20 officers broke into Dr. Wu's home around 9 a.m., while he was away visiting Mr. Mai. Dr. Wu had about 10 family members living with him in a multistory building and there were three other practitioners visiting that day. Without identifying themselves, the officers ransacked Dr. Wu's home and arrested his son and daughter-in-law along with the three practitioners – Chen Yuping, Luo Ji, and Luo Xiaozhu.
They handcuffed Dr. Wu's daughter while she was changing her clothes. The police tried to deceive his father, who is in his 90s, into confessing to owning Falun Gong materials so that they could use his statement as evidence to prosecute Dr. Wu.
Dr. Wu's son and daughter-in-law were released later that day. The three practitioners at Mr. Wu's home were released four days later.
Six police officers broke into Ms. Xie Yilan's home at around 1 p.m. and confiscated two printers and other personal belongings. Ms. Xie is currently held at the Maoming First Detention Center.
Mr. Mai Zhizhong was hosting several friends at home when dozens of police officers broke in and arrested them. Dr. Wu, Mr. Ke Zhengji and Ms. Li Shuming, all Falun Gong practitioners, were taken away with Mr. Mai.
The police confiscated several computers, 20 printers, a TV set, and other personal belongings from Mr. Mai's home.
Mr. Ke's home was ransacked immediately afterwards.
Ms. Li was later released, but the other three practitioners are still in custody. Dr. Wu is being held at the Maoming City Second Detention Center, while Mr. Ke and Mr. Mai are at the Maoming City First Detention Center.
Dr. Wu was cured of nasal cancer shortly after he took up the practice of Falun Gong in 1996, but was repeatedly arrested after the persecution began in 1999. He was put in a forced labor camp in 2001 for a year for refusing to give up his belief. The authorities arrested Dr. Wu again in 2003 and secretly sentenced him to seven years in Yangjiang Prison.
Related report in Chinese:http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2015/12/4/广东茂名市医生吴志岐再遭绑架-320028.html