(Minghui.org) Following the illegal arrest of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Xiaodong on February 25, 2012, local residents of the Zhouguantun Village gathered 300 signatures, along with fingerprints, to demand his immediate release. In response, the authorities have harassed and threatened the villagers.

As of May 15, 2012, Fuzhen Town officials in Botou City formed four teams to conduct a large-scale manhunt for those who signed the petition. By May 18, 2012, they had located all of the petitioners. Officials then ordered these villagers to sign a document stating that they had signed the original petition solely due to their sympathy for Mr. Wang's unattended wife and child. The villagers were also forced to sign another document, which defamed Falun Gong.

When officials forced village residents to sign a retraction, they threatened them not to sign any petition supporting Falun Gong in the future. In addition, they tried to instigate villagers' hatred toward Mr. Wang's family.

Mr. Wang Xiaodong and His Family Persecuted

Communist regime officials have persecuted Mr. Wang Xiaodong and broken up his family. At about 6 a.m. on February 25, 2012, Botou City police arrested three practitioners--Ms. Wang Xiaodong, Ms. Yao Xiuyi, and Ms. Wang Junling--and ransacked their homes. The police confiscated two computers, two printers, one video camera, Falun Gong books, and more than 20,000 yuan in cash from Mr. Wang's home.

Mr. Wang’s sister, Ms. Wang Junling, who also a Falun Gong practitioner, then asked the local village residents to sign a petition for the release of her brother. Many residents said they knew that Falun Gong is good and immediately signed the petition. Some residents who were absent at the time, later contacted the sister and told her, “We will also sign this as long as it can help Mr. Wang’s release.”

Mr. Wang’s family went to the police department twice to request Mr. Wang's release: on April 10 and April 14, 2012. However, police officials refused to talk to them and did not accept the petition. His family could do nothing more than distribute copies of the petition and the accompanying report documenting the persecution of Mr. Wang on the way home. Many people were shocked to learn the facts about this case.

As soon as the petition was published online on April 20, 2012, Botou Domestic Security Division head Wang Wensheng demanded to have all copies and the original of the petition.

More than 10 agents from the Botou Domestic Security Division went to Zhouguantun Village on April 23, 2012 including Botou Domestic Security Division division head Wang Wensheng, deputy head Gao Guiqi, and Sun Xiquan. They found village Party secretary head Zhou Yinzhong and took videos of the villagers who signed the petition. When pressured to turn in the petition original, the village officials went to the place of Ms. Wang’s elder sister. To avoid harassment, she managed to stay away from home.

On April 24, 2012, Wang Wensheng and Zhou Yinzhong called more than 10 petitioners, demanding to know why they had signed the petition and if they had any relationship to Falun Gong. To further intimidate these residents, the conversation was recorded and videotaped. Later on, these residents were forced to sign a so-called “conversation record,” the contents of which did not include what they actually said.