(Minghui.org) An elderly couple in Shantou City was enjoying dinner with their grandson on March 23 when the police barged into their apartment to arrest them. As the officers turned everything upside down and threatened the grandparents, the 7-year-old boy was terrified and couldn't stop crying.
According to the arresting officers, Mr. Zheng Minghui and his wife Ms. Peng Peishan were targeted for arrest because they filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin. The couple is accusing the former Chinese dictator of initiating the persecution of Falun Gong that has infringed on their constitutional right to freedom of belief and resulted in their past detentions.
Mr. Zheng and Ms. Peng were taken to Shipaotai Police Station, where they were interrogated all night long. Both of them were restrained to a chair and brutally beaten. They also had their blood drawn against their will.
The couple was transferred to Shantou City Detention Center a day later. They were interrogated again on April 1, this time by agents from the domestic security office.
Mr. Zhang and Ms. Peng learned on April 3 that their status had changed from administrative detention to criminal detention, which means that they now face indictment and trial.
Their two lawyers plan to defend their innocence. In the meantime, Ms. Peng has been on a hunger strike since she and her husband were taken to the detention center on March 24.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
