(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old man in Quzhou County, Hebei Province was arrested after being reported for distributing materials exposing the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of his faith, Falun Gong, a mind-body practice based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.
Mr. Wu Xuezhang, who lives in Beimadian Village, Nanliyue Town, Quzhou County, went to the nearby Chaozhai Village in the same Nanliyue Town on August 14, 2023 to distribute Falun Gong materials door to door.
When he stopped by Chen Zhen’s home, the latter walked out and asked which village Mr. Wu was from. Mr. Wu explained his purpose of passing out Falun Gong materials, and Chen, secretary of Chaozhai Village, dragged him to the village office.
Chen then called the Nanliyue Town Police Station. The police soon arrived and arrested Mr. Wu. They also raided his home and confiscated several Falun Gong books, one cellphone, a laptop, two printers, and more than 10,000 yuan in cash.
The next day the police took Mr. Wu to the Sitong Detention Center in Quzhou County. The guards there initially declined to take him due to his advanced age, but the police left him there and drove away. The detention center then admitted him.
Mr. Wu and his wife, Ms. Yan Pengxiang, both took up Falun Gong in 1997 and soon their illnesses were gone. They have both been repeatedly targeted for their faith in Falun Gong during the past 24 years of persecution.
The Nanliyue Town Police Station officers broke into Mr. Wu’s home on the night of July 27, 2007, and arrested him. They kept him at the police station overnight before taking him to the Quzhou County Detention Center. One month later, Mr. Wu was given two years of forced labor and transferred to the Handan City Labor Camp.
Mr. Wu was forced to watch programs slandering Falun Gong and do hard labor without pay. He was not allowed to sleep whenever he failed to complete his work quota. He suffered tremendous damage both physically and mentally after two years of forced labor.
At around 11 a.m. on February 6, 2020, a police cruiser and a civilian car showed up outside Mr. Wu’s home. It turned out they were all agents from the Nanliyue Town Police Station. They confiscated from his home Falun Gong books and even ripped off the wall decorations. Neither Mr. Wu nor Ms. Yan was home, and their two grandchildren who were at their home were terrified by the police presence.
Ms. Yan was arrested on April 1, 2001, while putting up Falun Gong materials. She was held at the Quzhou County Detention Center for 100 days, during which time she went on a hunger strike in protest. The guards released her after she became extremely weak.
The police kept harassing her and her family at home, sometimes in the middle of the night. They also arranged for people to monitor her and tap her phone. Ms. Yan was forced to live away from home not long after she was released from the detention center. About two months later, she returned home to pick up some necessities and was arrested by a group of officers who happened to be harassing her family. She was given two years of forced labor and taken to the Shijiazhuang City Labor Camp in June 2003.
Ms. Yan was arrested again in July 2007 and given three years of forced labor. She suffered brutal torture at the Shijiazhuang City Labor Camp. She was slapped in the face and forced to stand for long hours or do hard labor without pay. One time she was deprived of sleep for two straight nights. She fell into critical condition and was diagnosed with cancer. Only then did the labor camp release her ahead of time.
Through studying Falun Gong teachings and doing Falun Gong exercises, Ms. Yan gradually recovered after returning home. She was later even able to do farm work again.
At midnight on July 4, 2008, more than a dozen officers scaled the fence of Ms. Yan’s neighbor and broke into her home. They pried open her bedroom door and carried her away. Her then 15-year-old son was awoken and tried to stop the police from taking her away. The police punched and kicked the teen and knocked him down.
The police held her at the Nanliyue Town Police Station before taking her to the Quzhou County Detention Center. She was later given two years and two months of forced labor and suffered brutal torture at the Shijiazhuang City Labor Camp again.