(Minghui.org) A total of 24 Tianjin residents were arrested on December 28, 2017, for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime.
This is the third mass arrest of Tianjin Falun Gong practitioners in recent years. Tianjin police arrested 28 practitioners from March 2 to 4, 2015 and 18 practitioners on December 7-8, 2016.
One officer said that they had been tracking the 24 practitioners for months before conducting the latest police sweep. When some practitioners protested the illegal arrest (as no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong), another officer replied, “We don’t care if it’s legal. We make arrests now and offer state compensation for wrongful detention later if necessary.”
The majority of the practitioners were arrested at their homes, often with more than a dozen agents appearing at their doors. Three practitioners, including Xu Quansheng, Gao Lijuan, and Ms. Jiang, were arrested at work.
Ms. Gao Jianling refused to be taken away. Police beat her so badly that she passed out. They carried her into a waiting police cruiser.
Xu Quansheng’s elementary-school-age child was so terrified by police that he cried nonstop. Gao Lijuan’s mother, who is 80, almost fainted. A guest visiting her at the time caught her before she fell.
All practitioners had their homes ransacked and valuables confiscated. Police mainly targeted practitioners’ Falun Gong books and equipment (such as computers, cell phones, routers, printers, and laminators) believed to be used to produce and/or disseminate materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong.
Two practitioners also had large amounts of cash taken from their homes, with Gao Yuming losing 10,000 yuan and Qi Zhiyin several hundreds of thousands of yuan.
Except for Ms. Liu Jinfeng, who was released hours later, the remaining 23 practitioners are being held at various local detention centers.
In addition to the above practitioners, Ms. Wang Ping’s husband, who does not practice Falun Gong, was also arrested together with her. He wasn’t released until late that afternoon when it was time to pick up his child from school.
Wuqing District (8)
Huang Junjuan, Li Yongquan, Liu Shuqing, Gao Yuming, Qi Zhiyin, Zhou Houmei, Gao Jianling, and Liu Jinfeng
Nankai District (2)
Lu Houfen and Xu Quansheng
Haixin District (8)
Gao Lijuan, Wang Juan’e, Wang Ping, Chu Yan, Yang Yunxiang, Cui Yanqin and two elderly practitioners who were visiting her.
Hongqiao District (3)
Ms. Jiang, Wang Shuyan and Jin Zhi
Hedong District (1)
Lan Shufen
Beichen District (2)
Xu Xueli and Ms. Wang
Related Reports:
Tianjin: 18 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Early December
Thirty-five Tianjin Practitioners Arrested and Three Sentenced in First Three Months of 2015
Related Article in Chinese:天津警察绑架十余位法轮功学员
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
