(Minghui.org) Since May 2020, police and residential committee staff in Xuchang City, Henan Province, have been harassing Falun Gong practitioners and pressuring them to renounce their faith, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The harassment is part of a new nationwide “zero-out campaign” targeting practitioners, which was ordered by the Political and Legal Affairs Committee and the 610 Office, two agencies tasked with executing the persecution of Falun Gong.
Similar to the “Knocking on Doors campaign” in 2017, the police are harassing practitioners on government lists, collecting their personal information, and asking them to sign prepared statements to renounce Falun Gong.
Some officers repeated the things they said in 2017: if the practitioners signed the renunciation statements, the officers would remove their names from the blacklist and wouldn’t harass them in the future.
Many practitioners had their homes ransacked, and some had their cellphones taken. Several of their family members were also targeted and ordered to persuade their loved ones to give up their faith.
Below are some harassment cases.
On May 18, the police broke into the home of Jiao (last name unknown), in her 50s, and ransacked her place. The officers also ransacked the home of Jiao’s daughter, who is around 30 and doesn’t practice Falun Gong. The younger woman’s computer was confiscated. The mother and daughter were held at Xuchang City Detention Center for 12 and 10 days, respectively.
On June 11, the police went to Ms. Gao Huishao’s home around 5 p.m. They photographed her residence and asked if she still practiced Falun Gong.
On June 28, the police harassed Ms. Cao Fengyue at her shop and brought her home for the ransacking. The officers also called Ms. Cao’s daughter, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, and told her to come back for interrogation.
Also on June 28, the police harassed Ms. Zhang Ronghuan. They attempted to take pictures of Ms. Zhang’s home, but she stopped them. Ms. Zhang’s daughter, who doesn’t practice Falun Gong, was also called back from work and ordered by the police to persuade her mother to give up Falun Gong. The daughter replied, “My mom didn’t give up her faith even after being imprisoned for eight years. I can’t ‘transform’ her.”
Around July 9, the police harassed Mr. Liao Jianjun after deceiving him into opening the door by posing as census workers. Mr. Liao was taken to the police station and then a hospital for a checkup. He later escaped and has since been in hiding.
On July 15, Mr. Zhang Shujiao and Ms. Wei Shuyan were harassed at home and had their homes ransacked.
On July 16, Ms. Zhang Sumei had her home ransacked and her Falun Gong-related items confiscated.
On July 17, several officers and residential committee staff members harassed Mr. Wang Haidong. They ransacked his home and confiscated his Falun Gong books and related materials. His wife, Ms. Chen Zhizhong, was arrested and interrogated at the police station for a day. They threatened to arrest Mr. Wang if he didn’t give up Falun Gong.
Related article in Chinese:许昌市各派出所和社区人员对法轮功学员骚扰抄家
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