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Dentist Arrested for Trying to Attend a Medical Symposium

May 7, 2016 |   By a Minghui correspondent in Hebei Province, China

(Minghui.org) Mr. Zhao Ming, 56, is a dentist in the No. 4 People's Hospital of Hengshui City, Hebei Province. He was arrested and detained in the Hengshui Detention Center for over a month during the annual plenary sessions of the National People's Congress (NPC) and National Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (NCPPCC).

This arrest and detention shows how deceptive the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) statements about “Ruling State Affairs According to Law” and “Ruling State Affairs According to the Constitution” are.

Mr. Zhao is a well-known dentist in Hengsui City and has practiced dentistry for 30 years. He takes care of many types of dental work, including cleaning, filling, and implants.

As a Falun Dafa practitioner, Mr. Zhao follows the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. He often reduces his fee for those who are in financial distress.

Arbitrary Arrest

Mr. Zhao rushed to the train station on March 11, 2016 to catch a train to Beijing to attend a National Dentistry Symposium. However, when he showed his identification (ID) at the checkpoint, he was told that he could not take the train.

Police from the Lubei Police Station confiscated his ID and when he asked that it be returned several police officers attacked him. He was handcuffed and arrested with the charge of “obstruction of official business.” He was taken to the Hengshui Detention Center.

Liu Bin, He Zhibao and other officers from the Taocheng District Police Department ransacked his home in the afternoon on March 12, 2016. They confiscated some USB drives and SD cards used for training and in his medical practice.

Higher Authorities Order Illegal Arrest

Given the annual plenary sessions of the NPC and the NCPPCC, a communist regime “sensitive period,” police were ordered by higher authorities to prevent Falun Dafa practitioners from going to Beijing. This is done for the purpose of “social stabilization.”

Mr. Zhao may have been included in a list of Falun Dafa practitioners by the 610 Office because of his criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese dictator, who launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999.

However, there is no law that prevents Chinese citizens from going to Beijing to participate in academic activities or to visit the city as a tourist, regardless of whether the citizen is a Falun Dafa practitioner or not. Therefore, the Hengshui officers have no legitimate right to stop Mr. Zhao from going to Beijing and/or to arrest him with the excuse of “obstruction of official business.”

To protest the illegality of his arrest, Mr. Zhao refused to cooperate in the detention center. Because he refused to wear the prison uniform, his feet were shackled, handcuffed, and he was confined until his lawyers intervened.

Mr. Zhao's wife and daughter has hired two lawyers from Beijing to represent him. They also visited the related government branches on his behalf.

The authorities demanded that Mr. Zhao write a repentance statement, promising to give up Falun Dafa. This request was rejected by the family. Then, they demanded that Mr. Zhao acknowledge his fault in the arrest, which was also rejected by his family.