Tangshan City Police Ransack Practitioners’ Homes and Extort Money from Them

(Minghui.org) Police in Tangshan City broke into several Falun Gong practitioners' homes in the early morning of December 18, 2013. The practitioners were arrested and their personal belongings confiscated.

Ms. Xu Jiuling, a teacher, from the 12^th Residential Compound, was about to leave for work at 7 a.m., when someone knocked on her door. They claimed to be her upstairs neighbor trying to retrieve clothing that had fallen onto her balcony. Seven men rushed in when she opened the door. One man grabbed her arms, while the others began searching her home. They confiscated her computer, Falun Dafa books, DVDs and more than 10,000 yuan in cash. Ms. Xu was then taken to the Tuanjie Street Police Station.

Ms. Han Xiurong from the Xiangyang Residential Compound heard a knock at her door at 7 a.m.. She was told that her car had been scratched and that she should take a look at it. A number of plainclothes police rushed into her home as she opened the door. They ransacked it and confiscated a computer, printer, Dafa books and more than 100,000 yuan in cash. Ms. Han was taken to the Fengrun District Detention Center.

Just as the couple Mr. Wang Liwu and Ms. Xiong Fengyan were leaving their home to go to work at 8 a.m., police arrested them and searched their home. Ms. Xiong is being held at the Fengrun District Detention Center.

Mr. Liu Junzhong from Beiguan also had his home ransacked at 8 a.m. that day.

Police searched Mr. Liu Zhongxin’s home and took him to the Gaolipu Police Station for interrogation.

Since July 20, 1999, Falun Gong practitioners in Tangshan’s Fengrun District have suffered from severe persecution and thousands have been arrested. Since 2001, more than 200 practitioners have been taken to a brainwashing center; more than 200 practitioners have been detained for 15 days or less; more than 50 practitioners have been detained for longer terms; more than 30 practitioners have been sentenced to prison terms; more than 70 practitioners have been taken to forced labor camps, and 60 percent of them were women. More than ten practitioners have died as a result of persecution, and three practitioners have been permanently disabled.

Extortion

After being arrested, each practitioner is usually forced to pay a 1,000 to 2,000 yuan “fine.” Some had to pay as much as 10,000 yuan. For those who didn't have the money, the police took their food and other valuables from their homes.

Each practitioner held in the brainwashing center had to pay the officials there 1,000 to 2,000 yuan, even though the government provides funding to run the brainwashing sessions. If a practitioner is transformed, the guards involved are each awarded 500 yuan. In October 2010, officials at the brainwashing centers stepped up their efforts to get more money from practitioners, and each practitioner was forced to pay 10,000 to 20,000 yuan. Anyone who refused to pay is kept in the brainwashing center indefinitely.

Since the beginning of the persecution in the Fengrun District alone, police have extorted over three million yuan from practitioners and their families.

Officials at the local 610 Offices also stopped practitioners’ incomes. They stopped government employees' paychecks and confiscated practitioners' bank cards. Some practitioners had their pensions stopped, some were demoted at work and many were fired.

A number of practitioners saw their businesses collapse. After years of being illegally imprisoned or detained in forced labor camps, their families had no source of income. Some practitioners' family members paid thousands of yuan in an attempt to rescue their loved ones, but the practitioners still ended up in prison or labor camps.

Parties responsible for the persecution:
Zhang Guanghui (张广会), head of Fengrun District police: [phone], [phone]
Shan Yongsheng, deputy head of Fengrun District police: [phone] (Cell)
Fengrun Detention Center: [phone]
Kong Dehui (孔德会), head of Fengrun Detention Center: [phone]