(Minghui.org) A couple targeted during a mass arrest in Heilongjiang Province in November 2018 for their faith in Falun Gong remain detained, unable to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their young son and elderly parents.

Mr. Du Yongtang and Ms. Luan Cuiliu, 40, own a small rice-selling business in Yanshou County, Heilongjiang Province. They were arrested at their home on November 9, 2018, as the police suspected them of distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline with the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The police confiscated 30,000 yuan in cash from the couple's home, leaving their elderly parents, who have no income, and their minor son in a devastating financial situation.

Another 117 Falun Gong practitioners in Harbin (the capital city of Heilongjiang Province) and Daqing (a metropolitan city in Heilongjiang) were also arrested on the same day.

Mr. Du and Ms. Luan

Husband Developed Scabies Without Change of Clothing

The couple's lawyer visited Mr. Du at Shangzhi City Detention Center on January 9, 2019. [Both Shangzhi City and the couple's hometown of Yanshou County are under the jurisdiction of Harbin.] The authorities initially refused to grant a meeting but later relented at the lawyer's persistent requests.

Mr. Du told the lawyer that the detention center didn't allow him to take the clothing his family sent him. The guards also withheld the 500 yuan his family deposited for him.

Mr. Du did not have a change of clothes or the most basic daily necessities, including toilet paper. Under the unsanitary conditions in the detention center he developed extremely itchy scabies all over his body during the two-month detention.

His family visited him three days after the lawyer's visit. This time the detention center allowed him to accept the clothing brought by his family. He was transferred to the Acheng Detention Center shortly afterwards.

Wife Interrogated by Police After Procuratorate Rejected Their Cases

The couple’s lawyer went to the Shangzhi City Procuratorate to check on their case on January 9, 2019. The staff there claimed that they hadn't received the case yet, when in fact they had already forwarded the case to Acheng District Procuratorate in Harbin on January 5.

The lawyer's meeting with Ms. Luan at the Harbin City Detention Center on January 28 and a visit to Acheng District Procuratorate also confirmed the case transfer between the two procuratorates.

The lawyer visited Ms. Luan again on February 14 after Acheng District Procuratorate returned the case to the police for insufficient evidence.

Ms. Luan told the lawyer that the police had just come that morning, interrogated her, and attempted to force her to admit that she had distributed Falun Gong flyers.

Related report:

119 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Heilongjiang Province Cities in One Day