(Minghui.org) Seven practitioners were arrested on April 14, 2016, after they were caught reading the teachings of Falun Gong, a cultivation practice persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. Officers from the Futian District Police Department conducted the arrests.

The practitioners have since been detained in the Futian Detention Center. The illegal arrests of two practitioners, Ms. Wang Shuling and Ms. Yang Hong, were approved on May 20, 2016. Their family members have not been allowed to visit them.

The whereabouts of practitioners Mr. Li and Mr. Zeng Heping and the names of the other three practitioners are not known.

Illegal Arrests and Denial of Family Visits

The seven practitioners were studying the book Zhuan Falun in a house in the Futian District on the morning of April 14, when police officers broke into the house and arrested them. The practitioners were later transferred to the Futian Detention Center.

The police did not notify the families of the practitioners of their arrests. Only after searching extensively did the families learn that four of the practitioners included Ms. Wang Shuling, Ms. Yang Hong, Mr. Li, and Mr. Zeng Heping. The other three practitioners have not yet been identified.

Past Persecution of Ms. Wang Shuling

Ms. Wang used to work for the Bank of China. She was forced to quit her job due to Jiang Zemin's persecution against Falun Gong. She was arrested in 2000 and detained at the Futian Detention Center for remaining steadfast in her belief. She was later taken to the Sanshui Women's Forced Labor Camp.

Ms. Wang was arrested again in 2005, and put in a brainwashing center in Xili for six months, for refusing to give up her belief.