(Minghui.org) Since April 11, 2022, at least 30 Falun Gong practitioners in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province have been arrested for their faith. While all have now been released on bail, the police dispatched agents to follow the practitioners in cars and also arranged people to monitor them in their respective residential areas.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
In early 2022, the Qiqihar City Police Department held a meeting attended by all the local police forces within seven districts and nine counties to ramp up arrests of Falun Gong practitioners.
Chen Dong, the deputy mayor of Qiqihar and head of the Qiqihar City Police Department, ordered the police to follow, monitor and harass local practitioners, especially those who persisted in raising awareness about the persecution during the pandemic.
The operation gained support from Guo Xiaofeng, the head of the Qiqihar City Political and Legal Affairs Committee, an extra-judiciary agency overseeing the public security and judiciary branches and also orchestrating the persecution policy of Falun Gong.
Dubbed “Net Closing In Operation,” the latest police sweep was carried out by the Longjiang County Domestic Security Office, the Tiefeng Police Department, the Nanpu Police Station, the Donghu Police Station, the Wulong Police Station and several other police stations in the Tiefeng District.
Many of the practitioners were arrested by plainclothes officers for having “illegal gatherings” either at home or in the parks. Photos of the practitioners meeting in the parks were used as evidence against them. Following their arrests, the practitioners were ordered to sign on blank paper and had their blood samples collected. The police also confiscated some of their household registration forms, bank debit cards and IDs. Some had cash taken away from their homes.
Below are details of some of the arrests.
A group of officers broke into the home of Mr. Zhang Jizhong and his wife Ms. Li Yanzhen on April 12. They took away the couple’s Falun Gong books and computer. Both practitioners were held at the police station until the next day. Before releasing them, the police ordered the elderly couple to not go out for 15 days and to wait at home to be summoned at any time.
At 6 a.m. on April 13, a group of plainclothes officers broke into Ms. Li Lamei’s home as her daughter opened the door to go to school. The police showed a search warrant with only Ms. Li’s name and the charges against before searching her home. Only Ma Wei of the Tiefeng Police Department showed his police ID at Ms. Li’s demand. Other remained silent and refused to tell where they came from. Ms. Li’s husband was arrested with her. While he was released that afternoon, Ms. Li was held in custody until April 29.
That same day, Ms. Li’s sister, Ms. Li Dongmei, was also arrested. She was released on bail that evening.
Other practitioners who were arrested on April 13 include Zhang Wanjie, Zhu Xiuqing, Li Guilan, Yu Haixie, Weng Shulan, Cui and Zhen. They were all released on bail in the evening.
Ms. Kang Wenling and her guest Ms. Hou Guilan were arrested on April 16. Both have been released.
Ms. Jian Chulan was arrested on April 26 by three plainclothes officers. Her home was ransacked. Not knowing that she was arrested, Mr. Hong Yinguang went to visit her. As he went upstairs, he saw three plainclothes officers standing in the hallway on the fifth floor. As no one at Ms. Jian’s home came to open the door, he went downstairs and was arrested by the police. When he was released at around 6 p.m., he was shocked to see that his home had been turned upside down after a police raid.
Led by Wang Yanhong, a community worker, two police officers broke into Ms. Qi Jihong’s home on May 8. They searched her place and confiscated three Falun Gong books. The officials returned the next day. They said that due to her advanced age (she was in her 80s), they would not detain her, but they need her signature to admit that the three Falun Gong books were hers. Ms. Qi was thus deceived into signing it. She asked the officers whether they were with the Dongwu Police Station. While they said yes, she later confirmed that they were with the Xinhua Police Station and one of them was the police chief Sheng.
On May 13, Ms. Peng Shurong was arrested by officers of the Nanpu Police Station. She was released on bail in the evening.
Ms. Li Yan and another elderly practitioner Ms. Liu were arrested on the morning of May 14. Ms. Li was forced to pay 1,000 yuan bond when she was released on bail.
Another elderly practitioner, whose name is unknown, was recently arrested. The police took some Falun Gong booklets confiscated from other practitioners and asked the elderly woman whether they were distributed by her. They claimed that they had the photos as evidence, which turned out to be the practitioner’s ID photo.
Other practitioners who were targeted in the police sweep included Ms. Li Fengqin, Ms. Xia Tingting and Ms. Ma.
In addition to the abovementioned 22 practitioners, at least 8 other locals were also arrested for their faith, but their names are unknown at the time of writing.
Perpetrators’ information:
Guo Xiaofeng (郭晓锋), head, Qiqihar City Political and Legal Affairs Committee: +86-13314654777, +86-452-2791601, +86-452-2796688Chen Dong (陈东), head, Qiqihar City Police DepartmentChang Zhanhai (常占海), director, Qiqihar City Police Special DetachmentChen Baozhu (陈宝柱), secretary, Tiefeng District Committee
(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)
Related report:
Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province: Nine Face Prosecution on Fabricated Charges against Their Faith
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