(Minghui.org) After Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Zhou Xiuzhen was detained, the police did not permit her family to visit her, nor did they even tell them her whereabouts for over two weeks.
Ms. Zhou, 69, worked in the Langfang Oil Pipeline Administration before her retirement. On the morning of March 6, 2014, she was illegally arrested when she handed out Shen Yun Performing Arts DVDs at the Farmers’ Market in Niutuo Town in Guan County, Hebei Province.
According to an eyewitness, a group of officers arrived in two police cars and took Ms. Zhou away.
Ms. Zhou’s husband was very worried after his wife disappeared. He went out to look for her for days after she went missing. On March 11, when he went to the Niutuo Town Police Station, police chief Liu Chengxing told him that they arrested an elderly woman in the market. However, he claimed that officers from the Domestic Security Division arrested her, and told Ms. Zhou’s husband go talk to them.
Ms. Zhou’s husband went to the Domestic Security Division that afternoon and met with Director Zheng. He asked, “What has my wife Zhou Xiuzhen done that you've arrested her? Why you haven't informed us for so many days?” Mr. Zheng said it was the police station that had made the arrest and transferred her. He added that Ms. Zhou refused to tell them her name, so her identity was not confirmed.
Ms. Zhou’s husband told the police his own name and employer, and both were confirmed by Zheng’s computer database. But he insisted that Ms. Zhou’s husband bring copies of his wife’s ID and permanent residential certificate. Ms. Zhou’s husband asked, “Will you release her when I bring these papers?” Zheng replied, “No, we still need to go through the next step.”
The police took notes and made a video recording of the entire conversation. They explained that this was a routine procedure, but they also told the elderly man that they would play the video to Ms. Zhou and she would confirm if he was indeed her husband.
On March 13, Ms. Zhou's husband went to the Guan County Domestic Security Division. When division head Zheng realized that he had not brought the papers, he told the old man that he had to do a genetic test on his son as proof of the family relationship. He obviously intended to give the elderly gentleman a hard time.
After repeated inquiries, Zheng said that Ms. Zhou Xiuzhen was in Langfang Detention Center.
Ms. Zhou's husband then went to the Langfang Detention Center. A convenience store employee told him that a woman had been sent there from Guan County, but she refused to tell her name. The elderly man deposited 100 yuan under Zhou Xiuzhen’s name in the detention center account. But two days later, the money had not been used at all. Ms. Zhou’s husband began to doubt whether his wife was there.
He anxiously phoned Zheng and demanded to know where his wife was. Zheng insisted that she was in the Langfang Detention Center. The elderly man asked, “Who is responsible for my wife’s case?” Zheng said, “I am, but if you call again, I won't talk to you or meet with you again.”
Responsible parties:
Zheng (郑), head of Guan County Domestic Security Division: +86-316-6163147, +86-316-6180623
Liu Chengxing (刘承兴), head of Niutuo Police Station: +86-316-6124110
Langfang City Detention Center: +86-316-2333043
