Over 30 Practitioners Arrested for Making Calendars in Hebei Province

(Minghui.org) Giving away calendars for the new year is always appreciated or at least allowed, unless it is in China. Domestic Security personnel in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, arrested over 30 Falun Gong practitioners on November 15, 2013, for making calendars with information about Falun Gong.

Massive Arrest and Harassment

At 5 a.m., officers from the Shijiazhuang Police Station and the 610 Office went to the homes of more than 20 families, arresting practitioners and ransacking their homes. Later, they harassed and arrested 10 additional practitioners in the city and suburban areas.

Officers from the Xili Police Station went to the home of Chen Tiankui (陈田奎) a little after 6 a.m. They searched his home and confiscated his personal property, including 10,000 yuan in cash, computers, and over 80 DVDs.

At about the same time, practitioner Song Aichang (宋爱昌) heard someone knocking at his door. Once the door was open, many policemen rushed in. The entire apartment—three bedrooms and two living rooms—were almost full of police.

The police confiscated two computers, a wireless router, three cell phones and Song's daughter's ATM card. They returned to search Song's home two more times the same night.

Dong Zhaihai (董战海) in Luquan City, which is part of Shijiazhuang City, was arrested at about 6 a.m. by officers from the Luquan Police Station. They confiscated two computers, a printer, two cell phones, desktop calendars, DVDs, Falun Gong books, a driver's license, car keys and home keys.

At about 11 a.m., a group of policemen also visited Dong's hometown in Taitou Village, Luquan City, and ransacked his home there.

As of January 5, 2014, Chen Tiankui (陈田奎), Yang Huizhou (杨会洲), Tian Shumei (田淑梅), Hou Chunlin (侯春林) and three other Falun Gong practitioners are still illegally detained.

On the day of the arrests, the Domestic Security personnel were equipped with video cameras and arrest warrants. The police were instructed to videotape the arrests and create false evidence against the practitioners.

Practitioners later learned that the authorities had planned the mass arrest far in advance.

Officers from the Shijiazhuang Police Station and the 610 Office had learned that some practitioners were planning to make calendars containing information about Falun Gong several months prior to the arrest. They then utilized tracking technology to locate the practitioners. After learning that practitioners had purchased a large number of blank desktop calendars, they launched the mass arrest.

Persecution Continues in Hebei Province

Zhou Benshun, the head of the Communist Party in Hebei Province, ordered the arrests. He worked closely with the Political and Legal Affairs Committee (PLAC), the steering organization largely responsible for driving the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong. Zhou Benshun was the secretary-general of PLAC between 2007 and 2012, when Zhou Yongkang was the head of the organization.

Before Zhou Yongkang’s recent downfall, Zhou Benshun had launched a pilot program in Hebei Province in 2012 to increase the number of arrests of Falun Gong practitioners. He then attempted to set up Shijiazhuang as a “model city” for increasing the persecution.

In early October 2013, the 610 Office widely distributed an announcement of “legal contest” to slander Falun Gong. Hebei satellite TV also aired a program slandering Falun Gong in mid-December 2013.

The November 15, 2013, mass arrest was not an isolated incident. Similar arrests had happened before. Police from three provinces—Hebei, Liaoning and Shandong— colluded to arrest over 100 practitioners on February 25, 2012, after finding out that some practitioners ran a business of making blank DVD boxes. More than 20 practitioners were imprisoned with terms of up to 12 years.

Important Phone Numbers for Rescue Efforts

No. 1 Detention Center of Shijiazhuang City, where Chen Tiankui is detained: Jidi Street, Xuefu Road, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, P. R. China 050071, [phone] (Office)

Qiaoxi District Procuratorate of Shijiazhuang City: 233 Hongqi Boulevard, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, P. R. China 050090, [phone] (Office), [phone] (Office)

Lan Zhiwei (兰志伟), procurator: [phone] (Cell) Jia Jinghui (贾景辉), deputy procurator: [phone] (Office), [phone] (Home), [phone] (Cell), [phone] (Cell)

Related articles (in Chinese): http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2013/12/6/迫害仍在持续-石家庄三十多名法轮功学员被绑架-283610.html http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2013/12/7/二零一三年十二月七日大陆综合消息-283657.html