(Minghui.org) Seventy-year-old Mr. Sun Yuqiang is a Falun Gong practitioner from Wanghaisi Village in Cang County, Hebei Province. On December 24, 2012, Mr. Sun was arrested by police officers from the Cang County Domestic Security Division and he has been illegally detained for over two months. During this time, the authorities have used various excuses to deny his family visitation rights.

The police, the Procuratorate, and the court have attempted to unlawfully try Mr. Sun, and this persecution of an honest and innocent man has aroused the indignation of the local citizens. To date, 432 people have signed a petition calling for Mr. Sun's release. This most recent petition drive is part of a growing movement among Chinese people, angry and dismayed at the nearly 14-year persecution of Falun Gong.

432 Cang County residents signed a petition calling for Mr. Sun's release

Petition Drives Call for the Release of Persecuted Practitioners

In recent years, inspiring reports of large groups of people courageously standing up to condemn the persecution continue to flow from China. Within the last month, many groups of outraged citizens have appealed for justice for innocent Falun Gong practitioners through multiple petition drives.

On February 21, 2013, the Minghui website reported that 1,371 citizens in Hebei Province signed a petition calling for the release of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Lankui. Mr. Li, who buys and sells used goods for a living, was arrested for alleged “security reasons” prior to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad's June visit to Zhengding County. The local residents were angry over the injustice and began circulating a petition to request his release. Mr. Li was sentenced to one year and three months of forced labor and is being detained in a labor camp.

1,371 citizens in Hebei Province signed a petition calling for the release of Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Li Lankui

Mr. Li Musheng, husband of Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Lei Shengli, resorted to collecting fingerprints in a plea for his wife's release after she was illegally sentenced. He has collected almost 400 signatures and fingerprints to date.

Sixty-seven-year-old Mr. Li Musheng lives in Junshui Town, Tongcheng County, Hubei Province. He maintains that his wife is innocent of any wrongdoing and that practicing Falun Gong is not a crime. He is deeply worried about her health, as an old illness recurred while she was incarcerated and she was not allowed to continue her Falun Gong exercises. Ms. Lei has been arrested five times over the course of the 14-year persecution.

Nearly 400 people signed and fingerprinted a petition to call for the release of practitioner Mrs. Lei Shengli.

In Hebei Province, a young couple's sad story of persecution has moved many people. 2,300 citizens from Qinhuangdao City, Hebei, signed a petition for the release of Mr. Zhou Xiangyang, while 528 people from Fengrui District, Tangshan City, Hebei Province, signed a petition to rescue Mr. Zhou's wife, Ms. Li Shanshan.

After more people read the couple's reports, “Seven Years of Waiting and Nine Years of Unjust Imprisonment” and its sequel, more people became concerned about Ms. Li Shanshan who is being detained in the Shijiazhuang City Forced Labor Camp. As of this writing, 939 more have signed the petition to call for her release.

528 people signed the petition to rescue Ms. Li Shanshan

939 more people signed the petition calling for the release of Ms. Li Shanshan

In another instance, 15,000 people from Yichun, Heilongjiang Province, stepped forward for Ms. Qin Rongqian, placing their thumbprints on her petition letter seeking justice for her father. Her father, Mr. Qin Yueming, passed away as a result of torture in prison because he refused to give up his faith in Falun Gong.

People from Yichun, Heilongjiang Province—15,000 of them—stepped forward for Ms. Qin Rongqian, signing her petition letter demanding justice for her murdered father

More and More Chinese Citizens Joining Efforts to End Persecution

In July 1999, Jiang Zemin, former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), gave orders that Falun Gong be banned. The persecution has been brutal and ruthless, taking its cues from such directives as, “destroy their reputations, bankrupt them, and destroy them physically,” and policies as, “Falun Gong practitioners may be beaten to death; their deaths will be reported as suicides. Their bodies shall be cremated without autopsy."

At least 3,500 Falun Gong practitioners are confirmed to have died as a direct result of the persecution, though because of the difficulty of getting news out of China, the actual number is likely many times more. Also, untold numbers of Falun Gong practitioners have suffered from arbitrary detention and torture, including psychiatric abuse.

Due to the defamatory lies spread by the CCP, many Chinese citizens have kept silent about the persecution. However, 13 years of active efforts by Falun Gong practitioners worldwide to debunk the CCP's lies about the practice and to expose the extent of the persecution have awaken people's conscience and compassion. Many have been touched by practitioners' efforts, have begun to think outside of the CCP's influence, and have joined the effort to help end the persecution.

Even many government officials who have participated in the persecution have collected evidence to prove that they were forced to execute orders by the notorious 610 Office. Many of these people have in fact secretly helped practitioners avoid persecution and some have even begun to practice Falun Gong themselves.

International Support for Efforts Against Persecution

Governments outside of China, including the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and Taiwan, have passed more than ten resolutions calling for justice for Falun Gong and for the release of incarcerated practitioners.

In Taiwan, voices demanding an end to the persecution continue to increase. In July 2012, within just ten days, more than 1,800 Taiwanese citizens signed a petition titled “Release Falun Gong practitioners and punish the perpetrators.” Among those who signed, nearly 300 were government officials and about 1,200 were education professionals.

Related articles:

-Good Person Arrested and Persecuted by Public Security System, 432 Local Citizens Sign Petition for His Release  
-1100 Sign the Latest Petition Calling for the Release of a Falun Gong Practitioner