(Minghui.org) Ten Falun Gong practitioners in Cangzhou City, Hebei Province were arrested between January 4 and 16, 2019. Seven of them remain in detention at the time of writing.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Mr. Wang Deyou was arrested on January 4, 2019 for distributing Chinese New Year paintings with information about Falun Gong. He was interrogated with torture on January 7, as the police tried to force him to reveal the source of the paintings. He is currently being detained at the Huanghua Detention Center.
Mr. Teng Yiquan, Ms. Zhuang Zixue, and three female practitioners in their seventies and eighties were arrested six days later, on January 10. Two of the elderly practitioners (names unknown) and Mr. Teng were released around January 21, while Ms. Zhuang was kept at Cangzhou City Detention Center. The detention location of the third elderly practitioner remains to be investigated.
Mr. Zhang Zhenwei, a resident of Cang County, Cangzhou City, was arrested on January 15. His wife, Ms. Pang Huixia, also a Falun Gong practitioner, was arrested two days later. Both are currently being held at the Cangzhou City Detention Center.
Ms. Liu Zaiyun and Mr. Hou Dongliang were arrested on January 16. The police waited outside Ms. Liu's apartment and arrested Mr. Hou when he came to visit her. Both practitioners had their homes ransacked by the police later that evening. Ms. Liu's more than 10,000 yuan in cash and many other personal belongings were confiscated.
Mr. Hou is now incarcerated at the Mengcun Detention Center. Ms. Liu is detained at the Cangzhou City Detention Center. She protested the persecution by holding a hunger strike.
After the communist regime launched the nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Liu was repeatedly targeted for not giving up her faith. She was detained at the Cangzhou City No. 2 Detention Center and held at a brainwashing center following her arrest in April 2006.
