(Minghui.org) Nearly thirty officers broke into 74-year-old Mr. Zhang Xingyu’s home at around 7:00 a.m. on September 29, 2020, and arrested him and nine of his family members, including his 2- and 5-year-old granddaughters.
Mr. Zhang, a Kunming City, Yunnan Province resident, was targeted because he and his family practice Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
The ten family members were taken to two police stations and interrogated overnight. They were released at around 10:00 p.m. the next day, after paying the police a 3,000 yuan bail bond.
The police also ransacked Mr. Zhang and his sons’ homes and confiscated their Falun Gong books and photos of Falun Gong’s founder. No search warrants or other legal documents were shown during the raids.
The other nine people arrested from Mr. Zhang’s family included Mr. Zhang Furong (his oldest son), Mr. Zhang Fujia (his third son), Mr. Zhang Fubing (his fourth son), Mr. Zhang Fucheng (his sixth son), and his wife Ms. Li Xiancui, Mr. Zhang Fugong (his seventh son), Mr. Wang Chaoping (his son-in-law), and his two granddaughters, Wang Tingru, five-years-old, and Zhang Nongci, two-years-old.
The arrests happened just days before the Mid-Autumn Festival on October 1 – a traditional holiday for family reunions. The family remained very quiet and were in low spirits during the holiday season.
Mr. Zhang’s third son, Mr. Zhang Fujia, was especially traumatized by the arrest and he became withdrawn and was still terrified after coming back home.
Before the family had recovered from the fear, the police returned early on the morning of October 5 and arrested everyone except for the elder Mr. Zhang’s daughter-in-law and granddaughters. The seven people were then taken to a brainwashing center and forced to watch propaganda videos demonizing Falun Gong, including the Tiananmen self-immolation hoax. They were released late in the evening and returned home at around 12 a.m.
