(Minghui.org) On April 8 and 9, 2014, police officers in the Hecheng District of Huaihua City illegally arrested a total of nine Falun Gong practitioners. One has been released, four are in the Huaihua City Detention Center, and the other four have been taken to the Huaihua City Second Detention Center.

On the morning on April 8, 2014, police officers in the Hecheng District detained Ms. Zhang Chunqiu as she was leaving home. The officers then went upstairs and broke into Ms. Du Ziai's home. Without identifying themselves, the officers searched Ms. Du's apartment and arrested Ms. Du, her husband Mr. Wang Xuehong, and two other practitioners who were there – Ms. Wang Yue'e and Ms. Wang Yuying. The police confiscated Ms. Du's Falun Dafa materials and tens of thousands of yuan in cash. The five practitioners were detained by the Hecheng District Police Department Criminal Investigation Squad in Huaihua City.

Many local practitioners went to the criminal squad to clarify the facts of the persecution of Falun Gong and ask for the five practitioners to be released. That night around midnight, Mr. Wang Xuehong was released, but the remaining four practitioners were sent to the Huaihua Detention Center.

Security personnel at the Huaihua Detention Center

On the morning of April 9, local practitioners went to protest in front of the Hecheng District Police Department Domestic Security Division to secure the release of the other four practitioners. At noon, a dozen officers arrested Ms. Tang Kaiju, Ms. Tang Qingying, Ms. Yin Qiuyang, and Ms. Xiao Guiying and chased the rest away. The four women were taken to the Chinese Medicine Hospital in Huaihua City for physicals and then detained in the Huaihua City Second Detention Center that same day.

Persecuted for Their Belief

Ms. Tang Qingying, 67, was the deputy chief of the Hecheng District Bureau of Survey and is now retired. She once had hepatitis and other illnesses, but her ailments disappeared after she began practicing Falun Gong in 1996. After the persecution of Falun Gong began, Ms. Tang was sentenced to prison twice because she refused to give up her practice. She was imprisoned for a total of a year and six months. Her mother and father died of grief in 2005 and 2007, respectively. She has not received her pension since the persecution began in 1999. It's been 15 years and she is now owed over 200 thousand yuan (US$33,000.00).

Ms. Tang Kaiju, in her 50s, lived in Sifangtian Village, Shimen Township, Hecheng District. She had poor circulation and hepatitis and was very weak before practicing Falun Dafa. She also had a terrible temper. Practicing Falun Dafa completely changed her physically and mentally. Her husband said, “I was so touched by the changes I see in her that I quit smoking, drinking, and gambling.” Ms. Tang said, “Falun Dafa saved me and my husband, too.”

In summer 2000, Ms. Tang and four other practitioners went to Beijing to appeal for an end to the persecution of Falun Dafa. Agents from the 610 Office arrested them and detained them for 15 days. They were forced to pay a fine of 2,500 yuan. In the afternoon on May 27, 2008, the police arrested Ms. Tang. The court sentenced her to three years in prison.

Police officers who participated in the persecuting the practitioners.

Parties Involved in Persecuting These Practitioners:

Huaihua City 610 Office, Hecheng District 610 Office, Huaihua City Domestic Security Division, Huaihua City 110 Department, Huaihua City Police Criminal Squad, Huaihua City Detention Center, Huaihua City Second Detention Center.

Yang Jun (楊軍), head of Hecheng District 610 Office Yang Hua (楊華), agent, Hecheng District 610 Office Ouyang Chun (歐陽淳), head of the duty office of Hecheng District 610 Office: +86-13707459555 (Cell)