(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners Mr. Chen Liwu and his wife, Ms. Wang Yaxing, were arrested at home on the morning of March 13, 2014. Mr. Chen is being held in the Tangshan Second Detention Center. Ms. Wang was held at the Tangshan First Detention Center until she was released on April 2.
The police also arrested several other practitioners and their family members on March 13, 2014, in Tangshan City, including Ms. Xue Xiuyan, Ms. Meng Fanquan, Ms. Dang Fengling, Ms. Zhou Xiuzhen, Ms. Wang Rui, Ms. Gu Youli, and Ms. Zhang Lili.
When the persecution of Falun Dafa began in July 1999, officials from Mr. Chen's employer went to his home and tried to force him to give up his belief. When he refused, he was demoted.
He was taken to the Tangshan Second Detention Center in July 2002 for not giving up Falun Dafa. His general manager, Xue Ben, went to the detention center and threatened him.
After he was released, Mr. Chen was forced to write a self-criticism statement before he was allowed to return to work. He was also demoted from a manager to an engineer.
In July 2008, he was arrested by security officers and officials at work and personnel from the local 610 Office. At the time of his arrest, he was with his daughter who was being treated at a medical clinic.
They took him to the company's security office and confiscated his computer. Mr. Chen was detained there for the entire day. The officials also went to his parents' home and harassed them.
Mr. Chen was held overnight at work because he was suspected of distributing DVDs that explained the facts about Falun Dafa in the summer of 2009.
In October 2009, Mr. he was put under surveillance again for several days during the National Day celebration.
During China's Two Meetings (the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and the National People's Congress) in March 2011, Mr. Chen's employer hired people to closely monitor him. They even followed him out of town when he visited his parents.
Mr. Chen, in his 40s, is an electrical engineer at the Tangshan Iron and Steel Group Company power plant. He works hard and is friendly. His managers and colleagues all thought he was one of the most promising young employees. However, he has been repeatedly persecuted and unfairly treated because he practices Falun Dafa.
According to his colleagues, all of the previous managers at Mr. Chen's company recognized his hard work, technical abilities, and other accomplishments but didn't dare to promote him because they were afraid of the Chinese regime, so those with less seniority and ability were promoted to management positions above him.
Parties involved in the persecution: Domestic Security Division of Tangshan: +86-315-2530200 Sun Yansong (孙彦宋), director of Tangshan First Detention Center: +86-315-2532517(Office), +86-13832980206 (Cell) Xiang Zhongyun (项中元), political commissar of Tangshan First Detention Center: +86-13832955551 Wang Yuhe (王玉和), deputy director of Tangshan Second Detention Center: +86-13081183030 Dong Huiping (董惠平), deputy director of Tangshan Second Detention Center: +86-13832985588