(Minghui.org) The ongoing persecution against Falun Gong in China not only brought tragedies to tens of millions of practitioners, but also negatively affected their family members. When a practitioner was recently arrested and detained, her husband, who does not practice Falun Gong, was also arrested, interrogated, and tortured. She is now facing indictment for her faith, and he was released on bail and warned to not go out of town for a year.
Ms. Zhang Yuzhen, a practitioner in Yongning County of Ningxia Autonomous Region, was arrested with her husband, Mr. Wang Heping, on July 20, 2018. Their home was ransacked and the couple was taken to Yinchuan Detention Center the following day. Ms. Zhang has since remained captive, while Mr. Wang returned home on August 21 after the couple's children paid a 2,000-yuan bail bond.
Over 30 Officers Dispatched for Arrest
More than 30 plainclothes officers, from Minning Town Police Station and Yongning County Police Department, descended upon the couple's home on the afternoon of July 20. Without showing any IDs or a search warrant, they came in and restrained Mr. Wang. They took pictures of the home and one of the officers, Ma Guowen, questioned if Mr. Wang was a practitioner. Upon hearing no, Ma said, “If so, you have to swear at Falun Gong to show you are not a practitioner.” Mr. Wang refused to comply.
After failing to find what they were looking for, the officers forcibly took keys from Mr. Wang and went to his other apartment nearby, where they arrested Ms. Zhang.
The police also searched both apartments and confiscated a computer, a printer, Falun Gong books and informational materials, along with several cell phones.
As the couple was forced into a police van, Ma called out in front of the building to the residents, “Whoever has [Falun Gong] materials, you better go report yourselves to police. Otherwise, we will track you down and put you in prison.” When one passerby nodded at the couple, he was arrested and wasn't released until he endured hours of interrogation.
This arrest occurred because Ma and another neighborhood officer had followed Ms. Zhang and suspected her of engaging in activities to expose the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong.
Torture and Forced Labor
The couple was subjected to marathon interrogations after being taken to the police station, where they were also deprived of food, water, sleep, and use of the toilet. The next morning, they were sent to the Domestic Security Office in Yongning Police Department. After finding 100 yuan in Mr. Wang's pocket, an officer took the money as his own and never returned it.
Shortly before noon, the police moved both the husband and wife to Yinchuan Detention Center, after charging them with “using a cult to undermine law enforcement,” a standard pretext used by the Chinese communist regime in its attempt to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.
At the detention center, Mr. Wang was assigned to cell number 316. Guard Zhang, who was in charge of the cell, and the head inmate often beat detainees for no reason. Mr. Wang refused to recite the detention center rules, as one of the rules called for “humane treatment of inmates,” when he had been beaten. Six inmates then swarmed over him, removed his pants, and beat him with spiked shoes.
Mr. Wang still refused to recite the rules. The inmates beat him intermittently for seven days, and Mr. Wang still did not yield. In the end, he was switched to another room.
This time he stayed in cell number 310, where a guard surnamed Wang was in charge. There was no beating, but Mr. Wang had to do forced labor without pay every day from morning to evening.
On August 1, a few officers came to the detention center and ordered Mr. Wang to sign the long-overdue search warrant, which by law should have been presented at the time of the home search on July 20.
Police Claim to Be Foes of Lawyers
The lawyer hired by the couple's children visited Mr. Wang on August 14 and stopped by the Domestic Security Office in the afternoon to request his clients' release. Office Cao Jianli, who was in charge of the case, claimed that the case had been transferred to another officer on the third floor. This other officer told the lawyer that he had never received the case. Cao was nowhere to be found when the lawyer returned to his office.
The lawyer submitted his paperwork to a third officer, Zhang Bin. Zhang said he would hand over the paperwork to Cao, and he became annoyed when the lawyer didn't leave right away. Zhang said, “We Domestic Security Office officers and you lawyers are enemies.”
Officer Luo Haofeng phoned the couple's children on August 21, “If you pay a bail of 2,000 yuan, your father can return home now. Your mother has been officially arrested and she will remain detained.” Mr. Wang was released later that night.
Minning Town Police Station: +86-9519513961220Domestic Security Bureau of Yongning County Police Department: +86-951-8610561, +86-951-8610559Cao Jianli, +86-17395019580; Luo Haofeng, +86-14709682777.
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