(Minghui.org) A 45-year-old man in Huludao City, Liaoning Province has been detained incommunicado for over two months after being arrested for practicing Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. 

The authorities claimed that Mr. Gong Yubo’s case was related to “state secrets” and refused to provide any information about his situation to his wife. She contacted several government agencies to seek his release, but to no avail. 

With Mr. Gong, the sole breadwinner, arrested, his wife struggles to make ends meet, especially given that their daughter is attending college, their toddler son is not even two and her father, who lives with them, is bedridden and relies on others for care.

Below is the appeal from Mr. Gong’s wife.

***

Wang Shufeng, the secretary of Huangtukan Village, Tian Changwu, the deputy head of Shaheying Village Police Station, a person who claimed to be from the “Pandemic Prevention and Control Center,” and a police officer came to my home on January 21, 2022, two weeks after my husband returned home for the Chinese New Year from working out of town.

They checked my husband’s phone for his travel history and ordered him to go with them to check something on their computer. I asked how long it would take. They said half an hour. I asked to go with him, but they wouldn’t let me.

After they left, five plainclothes officers showed up and raided my home. My elderly parents were terrified. 

Two officers held me in a room upstairs and didn’t allow me to see how they ransacked my home. They threatened me not to tell others about the raid, otherwise I would be in trouble. They took away my husband’s Falun Gong books, computer, cellphone and many other belongings. 

I kept asking who they were and what they wanted. They refused to answer. I tried to videotape them. But they took away my cellphone. I later heard from a neighbor that those officers also covered the license plate of their car when they came. 

In the afternoon, I went to the Shaheying Village Police Station to seek my husband’s release. They refused to provide any information about him. 

I complained to the deputy police chief Tian Changwu that the police raided our place without a search warrant or wearing their police uniform, as well as their covering up the car plate. 

Tian said to me, “For some cases, they have the privilege, if the case is related to terrorism or state secrets. Actually the National Security Agency was involved in the case. For the cases that would endanger state security, they don’t have to tell the family anything. You should just go home and wait for further notice. I promise you will hear back from us in 14 days, whether the procuratorate approves his arrest or not.

He continued, “What you can do right now is just wait. I can only tell you he was taken away by people from the Shenyang City Police Department. But even if you go there, they won’t tell you anything. What’s the use for you to go there? What can you do to them? Even if you know which detention center he is at, they won’t let you see him either. It’s useless for you to try to do anything. No one will tell you anything before they finish the investigation.”

I later learned from Tian’s counterparts at the Shenyang City Police Department, Huludao City Police Station and Lianshan District Police Department all participated in my husband’s arrest.

With no place to seek justice, I called the mayor’s hotline. They also said that my husband’s case was very significant and related to state secrets. They refused to provide further information and asked me to wait at home. 

I visited several more government agencies, but none of them was willing to do anything. I also filed complaints with Huludao City Police Station and Lianshan District Police Department against the police officers for violating legal procedure in arresting my husband, but to no avail. 

I then reported the case to the supervision department of Huludao City Police Station. A man called me and said that the police indeed violated the law in arresting my husband without providing further information. He said I could file a complaint with the court against the Shaheying Village Police Station, as they bore the responsibility for the case. 

Half an hour later, the man called me again and said he had verified that my husband’s case was related to “state secrets,” which exempted the police from providing case information to me. He also said that no one would tell me where my husband was detained and I could only wait at home. He added that there is no limit to my husband’s detention term.

Now it has been two months since my husband was arrested. I haven’t received any notice about his case status or where he is detained. 

From asking around, I was told that he was accused of “publishing a book in overseas countries” and that he was the “organizer.”

Three years ago, my father was severely ill and waiting to do a heart stent operation. As we couldn’t afford it, my husband borrowed some money from his supervisor. Although my father survived the condition, he became bedridden and relied on me and my mother for care. He recovered very well after the operation. My mother and I would carry him to a wheelchair and take him out for a walk three times a day.

At the same time, my daughter is attending college and our son was not even two years old. We still have a debt of tens of thousands of yuan to pay off for my father’s medical fees. Our whole family depends on my husband. 

Before his arrest, we all had a positive attitude about life. We believed that no matter how difficult the situation may be, as long as we supported each other, everything would become better. But now, it feels like the sky has collapsed. 

I call on the world’s people and international human rights organizations to look into my husband’s case and help rescue him. 

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Meng Lina (梦丽娜), director of Appeals Department of Lianshan District Police Station: +86-429-3171055Li Yao (李尧), head of Shaheying Village Police Station: +86-429-4155010Tian Changwu (田长武), deputy head of Shaheying Village Police Station: +8613604290021Wang Shufeng (王树峰), secretary of Huangtukan Village: +86-18342900444Meng Bing (孟冰), head of Huludao City Police Department: +86-13842950005Sun Ting (孙亭), deputy head of Huludao City Police Department: +86-13909831338