(Minghui.org) Four Qingyuan County, Liaoning Province residents are facing prosecution for distributing materials to raise awareness about the persecution of their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.

Ms. Shi Hongxiang, Ms. Zhu Qinghua, Ms. Lin Guilan and Ms. Yang Xiaozhi went to nearby Kaiyuan County (about 80 miles from Qingyuan) on March 10, 2021 to distribute materials, but were arrested by the local police and taken to the Domestic Security Office in the evening.

When the practitioners’ families went to the Huangqizhai Police Station in Kaiyuan County the next day to seek their release, the police shouted at them, “Who told you to come here?” As they were talking, they closed the door and ordered each family member to write down their personal information. Even the driver who took them to the police station was interrogated and had his driver’s license and cellphone number recorded. The police also searched the trunk of his car. 

In the afternoon, the police took the practitioners to the Tieling Lockup near Kaiyuan County for 15 days of administrative detention. Their counterparts in Qingyuan County also ransacked the practitioners’ homes around the same time. 

The police travelled from Kaiyuan to the practitioners’ homes on the afternoon of March 12 and ransacked their homes again. As no one was at Ms. Yang’s home when the police came, they found a locksmith and broke in.

Ms. Yang began to suffer high blood pressure on March 15 and was released on bail after paying a 5,000-yuan bail bond. The police interrogated her at home on March 17 and threatened to come back in a few days. It’s reported that the police also went through videos taken by surveillance cameras near Ms. Yang’s home in an attempt to find other practitioners who have had contact with her.

The other three practitioners were transferred to the Diaobingshan City Detention Center about 40 miles from Kaiyuan County on March 24. The police informed their families the next day that they have now been put on criminal detention.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution