(Minghui.org) Today's news from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 12 cities or counties in 7 provinces, where at least 22 practitioners were recently persecuted for their belief.
Ms. Li Yanxia from Tangxia Town was arrested at home by officers from the Tianxin Police Station on February 8, 2021. She was taken to the Dongguan City No. 2 Detention Center on February 11.
Ms. Li’s door was sealed, her safe was pried open, and her personal belongings including cash in US dollars and RMB yuan, computers, cell phones, house keys, and car keys were taken away.
Her family and lawyer went to the police station on February 22, and asked to have the door unsealed and that her belongings be returned. Both requests were denied by Chen Rusong, who handled Ms. Li’s case. Chen said that they would track down the source of the US dollars Ms. Li held. Her lawyer has submitted an application to have the door unsealed and her belongings returned.
Ms. Gao Guifang from Nanshang Village, Nancaicun Town, Wuqing District was arrested and taken to the Wuqing Detention Center on January 26, 2021. Nearly a month went by. Her daughter went to visit her, but the detention center prevented her from seeing her mother.
Ms. Xu Yonglan, who lives in the same community as Ms. Gao, was seen on surveillance cameras when she distributed Falun Gong materials with Ms. Gao. She was also arrested. During the physical examination before detention, her blood pressure rose to an unsafe level and she was sent home.
Ms. Luo Yuanying and Huang Hongwei (gender unknown) were reported to the police while talking to people about Falun Gong and distributing cards with the QR code for unrestricted Internet access on February 22, 2021. They were arrested and taken to the Tangjiadun Police Station for interrogation.
The police ransacked Ms. Luo’s home that afternoon and confiscated Falun Gong materials and DVDs.
Shortly after their families arrived at the police station, the two practitioners were taken away in a police car. It is not clear where they are being held.
Wang Jiemei (gender unknown) from the Gaowan Area was arrested while talking to people about Falun Gong at the Shenfu Old Station Farmers' Market in Hunnan District on February 21, 2021. Wang’s home was ransacked. It was reported that Wang is being held in the Gaokan Police Station. Wang’s family went to the police station and demanded Wang’s release. Officers said the family needed to pay 20,000 yuan in bail.
It was reported that Ms. Yu Shuxia from Pukou District was arrested by the Xuanwu District police at the end of 2020. Her current whereabouts are unknown.
Mr. Liu Diting was arrested at home by Wang Xiangguo and other officers from the Zhugou Police Station at 7 a.m. on February 21, 2021. Mr. Liu was taken to the Gaomi Detention Center for five days of detention and was forced to pay 800 yuan for a medical exam and living expenses.
The homes of Ms. Liu Zixuan, Ms. Ye Linlin, Ms. Jiang Shan, and Wang Xuhui (gender unknown) in Xisanqi Sub-district, Haidian District, were ransacked on August 7, 2019. Ms. Jiang and Wang were released after writing guarantee statements.
Ms. Liu and Ms. Ye were officially placed under arrest in September 2019. They have been held in the Haidian Detention Center.
After twice rejecting cases filed by the police and three extensions, the Haidian Procuratorate brought the practitioners’ cases to the Shanhou Court in Haidian District at the end of April 2020 for prosecution. Court notices were recently issued that a trial in the Shanhou Court was scheduled at 10 a.m. February 25.
Ms. Fu Tianlu, Mr. Meng Kunlun, Yu Ping (gender unknown), and Ms. He Li were arrested and their homes were ransacked on October 26, 2020. They were held in custody for nearly four months. It was reported that the four practitioners would be tried at the Dongxing District Court at the end of February or early March.
According to reports at the time of the arrests, when the practitioners’ homes were ransacked, the police confiscated over 120,000 yuan in cash.
Mr. Lu Zongqi, in his 60s, was reported to the police by a villager while distributing Falun Gong materials in Dawang Village on February 7, 2021. He was arrested by officers from the Neibu Township Police Station. His home was ransacked and a computer, a printer, and Falun Dafa books were confiscated.
During interrogation the officers beat and scolded Mr. Lu, as he refused to cooperate. He did not return to his home until about 3 a.m. that night.
Recently, the Tianjin 610 Office, the Youyi Road Police Station, Director Zhuang Li of the Binguannanli Neighborhood Committee and other people have repeatedly harassed Mr. Liu Huijiang’s wife. They told her to call and pressure her husband to write the three statements renouncing Falun Gong.
They also talked to officials in the Education Department and those at his child’s school, asking these officials to call Mr. Liu and find out his hometown address. These people claimed that Mr. Liu’s case was filed at the municipal level, and municipal leaders have demanded “zero-out” of Falun Gong practitioners within three months. They also said that if Mr. Liu did not cooperate, they would send the case files to the police department in Mr. Liu’s hometown to get their assistance in achieving “zero-out.”
Mr. Liu was a major in the Second Division of the General Staff Department before he was forced to leave the army for practicing Falun Gong. He was arrested on November 3, 2008, and was sentenced to four years in prison by the Hedong Court. He was arrested again on June 25, 2019. He was sentenced to one year and two months in prison and fined 10,000 yuan by the Hexi District Court. The Hexi District Court charged 5,000 yuan from Mr. Liu’s medical insurance card without notifying him.
Ms. Han Yufeng’s family received a call from the Shuncheng District Court on January 26, 2021. The court clerk notified the family that Ms. Han was sentenced to three years and eight months in prison and was fined 4,000 yuan.
The clerk said that if the family paid the fine, Ms. Han’s prison term could be reduced by a few months, and if the family did not pay the fine, she would be sentenced to the full term of three years and eight months.
Ms. Han is being held in the Nangou Detention Center and her family has been not been allowed to visit her. Her family has also not received the verdict.
Ms. Wang Shizhen, 69, from Gaohang Town, Pudong New Area, was arrested by officers from the Gaohang Police Station in April 2020. She was held in the Pudong Detention Center for over 10 months.
Ms. Jin Xiao from Tongshan District was arrested on February 3, 2021. Her sister Ms. Jin Lu was also arrested on the same day. Their current whereabouts are unknown.