(Minghui.org) At least 17 residents of Shenze County, Hebei Province were arrested between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m. on January 11, 2022 for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Most of these practitioners had black hoods put over their heads and taken to a hotel, where they were held and interrogated for up to 16 days before being transferred to various local detention facilities.
The Minghui.org website previously reported that eight of the practitioners were tried by the Jinzhou City Court on April 4, 2023 and sentenced to prison in about two months:
Ms. He Hongyan was sentenced to five years and fined 40,000 yuan;Ms. Liu Xiaomiao, 76, Ms. Jiao Yaqin, and Mr. Du Guofang, 52, were each sentenced to three years and fined 30,000 yuan;Ms. Liu Yuru, 55, was sentenced to two and a half years with a 25,000-yuan fine;Ms. Tian Xuan was sentenced to two years and fined 20,000 yuan;Ms. Ma Tongxin and Mr. Liu Chengwu were each sentenced to one year and ten months with a 15,000-yuan fine.
It was recently confirmed that one other practitioner targeted in the midnight police sweep, Ms. Zhang Huixin, stood trial together with the above eight practitioners and was also sentenced to prison at the same time. Her exact prison term remains to be investigated.
Ms. Zhang, 71, was sound asleep at 12 a.m. on January 10, 2022, when she was awakened by loud noises. Several officers had pried open her door and broken in. She asked why they were at her home and an officer yelled, “Because of this!” while pointing to her desk calendar bearing Falun Gong messages.
They took her to a police station, where they interrogated her while keeping her handcuffed.
The next night, the police put a black hood over Ms. Zhang’s head. There was no opening at all, and she couldn’t see or breathe well. She felt suffocated at times. She was then driven to a new place, where the police sat her down in a chair with her handcuffs snapped into the slots snugly on the back of the chair. They then moved the chair to a spot where there was constant wind.
Ms. Zhang was sat in the chair for several days before being removed from it. She was then brought to a room and ordered to sit on the foam cushion on the floor. She was not allowed to stand up or lie down. The handcuffs and the black hood were never removed except for when it was meal time or interrogation time. She could hear other people’s coughing and walking in the room. She also heard someone moaning from pain.
The police put Ms. Zhang back in the chair to face the wind for one day when she refused to answer their questions.
Around January 24, 2022, Ms. Zhang was taken to the Jinzhou City Hospital for a physical examination. The police didn’t remove her black hood until they got to the hospital. The next day she was driven to the Shijiazhuang City Second Detention Center. Again, she had to keep the black hood on while en route there.
Ms. Zhang was twice taken to the Jinzhou City Police Department for interrogation during her detention. She again had to wear the black hood until she got there.
Ms. Zhang was released on bail on March 3, 2022. It is unclear whether she has been taken back into custody to serve time after she was sentenced to prison around June 2023.
Related Reports:
Woman Detained in Secret Location After Police Show up in Her Bedroom at Midnight
Seven Targeted in a Midnight Police Sweep Detained for Nearly Two Months
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