Henan Man Detained for His Faith, Mother Dies in Distress

(Minghui.org) An Anyang City, Henan Province resident has been detained for four months for his faith in Falun Gong. Mr. Duan Yanlin’s bedridden mother, who relied on his care, was traumatized by his arrest and passed away soon. The police didn’t allow Mr. Duan to attend his mother’s funeral.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Six officers from the Beiguan District Domestic Security Office broke into Mr. Duan’s home located in Wenfeng District in the same city on June 26, 2021, and arrested him. He was interrogated in the evening and then taken to the Anyang City Detention Center, where he has been held since.

Mr. Duan’s mother had already been traumatized by the persecution of her son for upholding his faith over the past 22 years. This latest arrest dealt her another heavy blow and she passed away soon afterwards. The police rejected their family’s request to release Mr. Duan so he could attend his mother’s funeral.

Mr. Duan’s arrest was part of a police sweep prior to the Chinese Communist Party’s centennial anniversary of its founding on July 1. When the police were searching Mr. Duan’s home, they were following directions over the phone to search which room, under which bed or in which cabinet. After one hour of searching, the police confiscated two Falun Gong books.

Although the Beiguan District Procuratorate returned Mr. Duan’s case to the police, citing insufficient evidence, the police refused to release him and submitted his case again to the Wenfeng District Procuratorate.

Prior to his latest arrest, Mr. Duan, in his 50s, was arrested in July 2008 and given two years of forced labor, after the police found banknotes printed with information about Falun Gong at his home (printing on banknotes has been a creative way to overcome the strict information censorship in China). He was brutally tortured at the Xuchang Forced Labor Camp.

Active Persecution by Officer Yang Bin 

Since Yang Bin, a former investigation officer from the Beichen Police Station, joined the Beiguan Domestic Security Office in August 2020, he has been actively persecuting local Falun Gong practitioners. In addition to Mr. Duan, he has also participated in the arrests of Ms. Zhang Yanping, in her 70s, Mr. Zhang Jianjun, in his 50s, Ms. Weng Qiuxiang, in her 60s, Ms. He Xiuling, in her 50s, Ms. Geng Shuqing, a former Chinese medicine professor in her 50s, and Mr. Li Xianxi. 

Mr. Li, a small shop owner, was arrested on May 11, 2021, while going out to buy some steamed buns for dinner. He died a month later on June 12 at the Anyang City Detention Center, at the age of 52. According to his family who saw his body, he was emaciated. His head was swollen, and there were injuries on his back and knees.

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Yang Bin (杨斌), officer from the Beiguan District Domestic Security Office: [phone], [phone]Zhang Yong (张勇), head of the Beiguan Police Station: [phone], [phone], [phone]Lu Bin (户彬), political director of the Beiguan Police Station: [phone], [phone], [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)