(Minghui.org) The authorities in Qilihe District, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province dispatched a large number of agents and arrested eight local residents on August 23, 2022, for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
According to insiders, the police conducted the group arrest in order to meet the quota for a stability maintenance operation prior to the Communist Party’s 20th Congress to be held in October 2022.
Mr. Li Wenming has since been held at the Xiguoyuan Detention Center in Qilihe District. Ms. Chen Xuemei, nearly 80, Mr. Su Anzhou, Ms. Yang Lijuan, Ms. Liu Juhua, Mr. He Yingguo, Mr. Zhou Wei and his wife, were all released on bail within five days of their arrests.
It had been previously reported that Mr. Li was indicted in February 2023 and is now facing trial.
Minghui.org recently confirmed that Mr. Su and Mr. Zhou were both indicted around July 2023, and that the police were ready to submit Ms. Liu’s case.
The Chengguan District Court called Mr. Zhou and Mr. Su’s loved ones on July 4, 2023, saying that court workers would come the next day to have the two practitioners sign their indictment paper. The next morning, two women showed up at Mr. Zhou’s home and demanded to have his signature. He refused to comply. They left and proceeded to their next stop: Mr. Su’s home. They were very rude to Mr. Su’s family as the latter did not answer the court’s phone call the day before. They forced Mr. Su to fingerprint his indictment paper.
It is unclear when the local procuratorate indicted Mr. Su and Mr. Zhou before forwarding their cases to the court.
A few officers from the Qilihe District Domestic Security Office harassed Ms. Liu at home around July 7, 2023. They produced a document and ordered her to sign it. She wrote “The world needs Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance [the core tenet of Falun Gong]” on the document before signing her name.
It is unclear if the police have submitted Ms. Liu’s case to the procuratorate at the time of writing.
Past Persecution
Most of the practitioners targeted in the group arrest have been repeatedly persecuted during the past 24 years for their faith in Falun Gong.
Mr. Li Wenming and Mr. Su Anzhou
Mr. Li Wenming, 59 and a former employee of the Lanzhou locomotive factory, and Mr. Su Anzhou, a 70-year-old retiree of the Lanxi Mechanical Section of Lanzhou Railroad Bureau, were previously arrested in August 2002 for tapping into a cable TV network to raise awareness about the persecution.
Mr. Li was later sentenced to 20 years, and Mr. Su received ten years.
Mr. Li was released in August 2021, one year before the end of his 20-year term. He was orphaned while a child and didn’t have any other close relatives. Mr. Su’s wife and son, who also practiced Falun Gong, both died in the persecution. After Mr. Li was released, he became Mr. Su’s home care aide. The two were arrested again on August 23, 2022 together with six other practitioners. While Mr. Su was soon released on bail, he was placed under house arrest.
Mr. Zhou Wei
Mr. Zhou Wei, around 59 and a former engineer of the Lanzhou City Petrochemical Machinery Plant 54, was arrested on September 19, 2016, for hanging banners bearing messages about Falun Gong. He was sentenced to four years and fined 2,000 yuan on January 2, 2018.
His wife and mother, Ms. Li Guiluan, have also been repeatedly targeted for their shared faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Liu Juhua
Ms. Liu Juhua, 66, was arrested in 2000 and given one year of forced labor. After she was released, she was forced to live away from home for nine years to avoid further arrests.
She was arrested again in 2012 and held at a brainwashing center for six months.
Ms. Yang Lijuan
Ms. Yang Lijuan, around 78, was arrested together with her son, Mr. Qin Haifeng, in August 2028 and held at the Gongjiawan Brainwashing Center. Mr. Qin, then 38, was abused to the point of having a mental breakdown.
Mr. He Yingguo
Mr. He Yingguo, 56, used to work at Lanzhou Zinc Factory. He was given forced labor in 2001 and sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2004.
Related Reports:
Dozens of Practitioners in Gansu Province Sue Jiang Zemin
Mr. Su Anzhou Lost His Wife and Son to Persecution
Lanzhou Man Faces Prison Sentence Again After Serving 19 Years for His Faith
80-Year-Old Woman Endures Never-ending Harassment and Persecution
Gansu Engineer Sentenced to 4 Years for Hanging Falun Gong Banners
Mr. Zhou Wei Arrested for Hanging up a Falun Gong Banner
The Ruthless Crimes Committed by the Police in Ping'antai No. 1 Labor Camp, Gansu Province
Lanzhou Man Arrested Again a Year after Serving 20 Years for His Faith, Whereabouts Unknown
Torn Apart by the Persecution: Wife Recently Arrested after 13 Years on the Run,Husband Still Serving a 20-Year Illegal Sentence
Lanzhou City Jail Authorities Aggressively Persecute Practitioners
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