(Minghui.org) In the month leading up to the Chinese Communist Party’s 20th Party Congress held between October 16 and 22, 2022, the authorities in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province harassed many local Falun Gong practitioners in an attempt to prevent them from raising awareness about the persecution of their faith during the conference.
Below are select harassment cases.
Ms. Luo Linming is nearly 90 years old. The police called her daughter on September 6 and said the elderly woman was required to do a COVID-19 test.
A group of officers went to the restaurant that Ms. Li Quanying worked at on September 24 and took photos of her and the restaurant. The police showed up at her home two days later. As she didn’t lock the door, they went inside uninvited.
Two police officers knocked on Ms. Wu Derong’s door on September 26 and claimed to be conducting a welfare check. Ms. Wu, 71, let them in and asked whether they were there to ransack her home again. They said that they were not, and left hurriedly.
Earlier in the year, five plainclothes officers deceived her husband, who was at home by himself, into opening the door on March 29, 2022, by claiming to be checking their gas meter. With one officer restraining her husband, the other four officers ransacked the home and took away everything related to Falun Gong. The lock on the bedroom door was smashed in the process.
Ms. Huang Deshu, a retired worker of the Luzhou City Natural Gas Plant, was visited by three plainclothes officers on September 30. When her husband asked about the purpose of their visit, they said they wanted to check how she was doing. When Ms. Huang came out from her room upon hearing the commotion, the officers took photos of her and left. They also ordered her husband to tell her that she wasn’t allowed to go out to promote Falun Gong.
Five officers came again on October 10. Not knowing that the couple weren’t at home, the officers pounded on the door and yelled out their names.
Earlier this year, on April 14, three staffers from the residential committee also harassed Ms. Huang. Her husband told them how her critical ailments disappeared after she took up Falun Gong and urged them not to participate in the persecution anymore. They refused to listen.
As the police couldn’t find Ms. Liu Kequn in late September, they threatened her son to report her whereabouts. Terrified, the son called her about the harassment. Still unable to find her, the police called her ex-husband for information.
In early October, Ms. Liu was seized by three officers while doing laundry at home. They took photos of her without her permission. She urged the officers not to participate in the persecution.
Ms. Li Zhongming, 74, shared with the police how she benefited from practicing Falun Gong when they came to harass her in late September. She said she used to have a very bad temper and always held grudges against others. Practicing Falun Gong broadened her mind and she became forgiving and considerate.
Ms. Liu Zongzhen had her photos taken by the residential committee staff members in late September. She had also received another harassment phone call around April 2022, when the officer warned her not to distribute Falun Gong materials.
Ms. Gui Dalyu, a 78-year-old retired worker of the Luzhou Gas Mine, was harassed by two officers at home on October 4. Prior to the latest incident, she has been harassed many times and had her home ransacked.
Three plainclothes officers harassed Ms. Yang Taizhen in early October and took her photo. To protect her, her son stood in front of her. He said to the police that his mother had already served more than ten years in prison and had her pension suspended for her faith, and the family has had enough.
A few days before the harassment, Ms. Yang’s husband received a call from the police, threatening that Ms. Yang wasn’t allowed to go out to talk to people about Falun Gong.
Ms. Luo Linrong recently moved into her children’s home in the city, after her home in the suburbs was demolished. The police found out about her new address and came to harass her on October 23. Without showing their ID's or search warrant, they ransacked every room in her residence, confiscating her Falun Gong books, photo of Falun Gong’s founder, informational materials and three media players. Ms. Luo tried to stop the police, but to no avail.
Ms. Luo was then taken to the police station, where the police fabricated her case document. She refused to sign it. Before releasing her under house arrest, the police forced her to do a COVID-19 test and threatened to harass her in the future.
Ms. Liu Yunfang received a call from the police on October 24, asking about her current address. The police also questioned her son on whether she had indeed moved.
Other practitioners who were harassed in recent months include Ms. Dong Guozhen, Ms. Liu Zongfen and Mr. Song Degui. The officers took photos of the practitioners and recorded their voice.
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