(Minghui.org) Between May and September of 2021, the police in Baoding City, Hebei Province harassed many Falun Gong practitioners in various townships under the jurisdiction of Mancheng District in the city.
Mancheng Town
More than 10 practitioners were harassed.
In some cases, the police called family members of the targeted practitioners and used them to put pressure on the practitioners to renounce their faith.
Once a police officer was accompanied by the village chief to harass a practitioner at home. He showed a few anti-scam flyers before asking, “Do you have any belief?” He also warned the practitioner, “Do not go outside [to talk to people about Falun Gong].” He and the village head recorded the conversations and videotaped the whole process without the practitioner’s consent.
Another police officer went to another practitioner’s home twice, but the practitioner was not at home. A few days later, the police officer called the practitioner and demanded a face-to-face meeting so that he could take the practitioner’s photos. He threatened, “If you refuse to meet with us, we have other ways to make you comply.”
A third police officer went to a third practitioner’s workplace several times and attempted to force the practitioner to sign a statement to give up practicing Falun Gong.
Two other police officers broke into a fourth practitioner’s home without a search warrant. One police officer recorded and videotaped the practitioner, and the other one took pictures of the practitioner’s home.
Shenxing Town
In early September 2012, Xu Huai, an official from the local Weizhuang Village, Zhao Gazi, Li Xiufen and a young man split into two groups and guided police and town government personnel to harass Falun Gong practitioners under the pretext of vaccination.
When Zhao Gazi and Li Xiufen were driving around the village with police, they saw a practitioner and immediately got out of the car. They called the practitioner’s name and started to talk to the practitioner. The police officers also got out of the car and asked the practitioner if they still practiced Falun Gong. The police recorded and videotaped the whole process.
If a targeted practitioner was not at home, Li Xiufen would ask neighbors about the practitioner’s whereabouts. Xu Huai also tried to find out the practitioner’s information from others.
Bailong Village
In early September 2021, Xing Xiaosong, a Lijiazhuang Village official, called a practitioner’s daughter and demanded that she send him a video of herself. The daughter had been harassed before because she is very supportive of her mother practicing Falun Gong. This time the harassment caused the daughter a lot of mental stress.
One practitioner is a fruit vendor. A Baibao Village official led a couple of police officers to the practitioner’s home and claimed that they wanted to buy bananas. When they were talking, the police officers recorded and videotaped the practitioner without his consent.
Nanhan Town
Five or six practitioners from Dagudian Village and Duanwang Village were harassed by police officers at the end of September 2021. The police officers came with video cameras strapped on their chests. They asked, “Are you XX? You stopped practicing Falun Gong a long time ago, right?” or “You know who we are and what we do. Pay attention to your actions.” And they left right after the practitioners answered their questions, and they videotaped the practitioners.
Yaozhuang Village
Three police officers broke into a practitioner’s home without a search warrant. They were also equipped with video cameras. A police officer said, “Just practice at home, and do not go out to talk about Falun Gong.” They recorded and videotaped the practitioner and family members without their consent.
Background
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a meditation practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime for the past 22 years. The Chinese Communist Party has never stopped its attempt to force every Falun Dafa practitioner to renounce their faith. Most recently, the regime launched a zero-out campaign in 2020 aimed to force every practitioner on the government’s blacklists to renounce their faith. Local authorities across the country then followed the order to harass practitioners, trying to force them to sign or press their fingerprints on a document slandering Falun Dafa.
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