(Minghui.org) At least 15 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing, most of them in their 70s and 80s and a few in their 60s, were arrested while walking together in a park around 6:30 a.m. on November 18, 2023.
Dozens of plainclothes officers rushed over to them, yelling “Freeze” and “Put down your bags.” Two men grabbed hold of each practitioner and videotaped and photographed them before forcibly taking them to the more than ten police cruisers stationed around the park. No officers showed their IDs or arrest warrants.
The arrested practitioners were Ms. Hu Xingxi, Ms. Wu Qizhen, Mr. Yue Jun, Ms. Zhang Nairong, Ms. Wang Fengmei, Mr. Yu Zhixin, Ms. Li Xiaoping, Ms. Wang Zuolan, Ms. Zhao Shuming, Ms. Xing Guiling, Ms. Lei Xiuhui, Mr. Qi Zhiying, Mr. Tao Gong, Ms. Wang, Mr. Zhang, as well as a few practitioners whose names weren’t known.
According to an insider, the police monitored the practitioners’ daily lives for four months before the arrests. Knowing that the practitioners would meet that day in the park, many plainclothes officers arrived at the park at around 5 a.m. They stayed at various exits and intersections, waiting to arrest the practitioners.
The practitioners were first taken to the Xicheng Police Department, before being transferred to the police stations in their respective residential areas. They all had blood pressure measured. Those who were younger than 70 also had their blood samples collected. Some reported having their fingerprints collected, their voices recorded and their faces videotaped.
Each of them was interrogated in a dark room in the basements of the police stations. They also went through physical examinations, though it’s unclear whether it was done in the police stations or the hospitals.
After the physical examinations, the practitioners were taken back to their respective homes. Each home was searched by up to ten officers, without proper search warrants. Some officers spent hours raiding their places. The practitioners’ Falun Gong books, informational materials and printers were confiscated. Some practitioners’ families were intimidated and forced to sign blank detention notices. The police also asked for the practitioners’ phone numbers.
Most practitioners were released on bail that same day, although a few were still in detention as this was being written.
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