(Minghui.org) Six hundred residents of Cangzhou City, Hebei Province signed a petition calling for the release of Ms. Xia Hong, who was arrested in Beijing on January 21, 2016 because she practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the communist regime.

Signed petition sheets with fingerprints

Ms. Xia has been detained for over eight months. She was arrested along with 17 other practitioners while they were reading Falun Gong books together at Ms. Qing Xiuying's home in Tongzhou District of Beijing. They were taken to Tongzhou Police Department.

Most of those arrested have been released. Ms. Xia, however, and two others are still being held in Tongzhou District Detention Center.

The Tongzhou District Domestic Security Division submitted the three practitioners' cases to the Tongzhou District Procuratorate twice. The cases were returned each time due to insufficient evidence. The Tongzhou District Domestic Security Division, however, submitted their cases for the third time on September 18, despite a stipulation by the Criminal Procedure Law that a case should be withdrawn if it is returned twice.

Responsible parties:Tongzhou District Domestic Security Division (Beijing): +86-10-69555950Tongzhou District 610 Office: +86-10-69543064