(Minghui.org) Two residents from Wuliang Village, Yuzhou City were arrested last June for distributing information about Falun Gong, a spiritual practice being persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party. In the months that followed, hundreds of their fellow villagers signed a petition calling for their release.
The two Falun Gong practitioners' families presented the signed petition to presiding judge Zhao Minghui on January 14.
Five days later, a group of police descended upon the village to interrogate more than 30 of the petitioners, demanding to know who the petition organizers were.
The police made two more trips to the village to question the rest of the petitioners in March. They came the second time on March 11 and forced many petitioners to sign a prepared document, stating that they were pressured into signing the petition against their will last year.
The police struck again the very next day, arresting several family members of the two Falun Gong practitioners. Mr. Xu Suijang's wife Zhang Jumei and sister-in-law Zhang Fuifen, as well as Mr. Lu Songlin's daughter Lu Xiaoyan, were all taken away. Ms. Lu Yulan, not related to either man, was also arrested because she is a practitioner.
Mr. Lu Songlin's elderly mother is now left alone to fend for herself. His daughter's son is only three years old, but has to live without her mother's care. Mr. Xu Suijang's son works in another city and is not aware of his mother's arrest yet.
Parties involved in persecuting:Wu Qingxu(吴庆旭): Director of Yuzhou City 610 Office
Liu Yuting(刘玉亭): Party secretary of Yuzhou City Political and legal affair committee
Geng Songtao(耿松涛): Officer of the Yuzhou City Domestic Security Division
Xia Yuxiao(夏玉宵): Director of the Yuzhou City Domestic Security Division
Related Report:Hundreds of Villagers Petition for the Release of Two Falun Gong Practitioners
