(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhao Qingping of Wuchang City, Heilongjiang Province, and her mother-in-law were arrested on the evening of July 19, 2022, for their shared faith in Falun Gong. The police also confiscated 370,000 yuan in cash that Ms. Zhao had set aside for her child to buy a house and refused to return it.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhao’s mother-in-law was followed by officer Sun Dongdong of the Xiaoshanzi Police Station while she was distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. Because her residence is under the jurisdiction of Chongren Police Station, Sun reported on her to them.
When the police were about to arrest Ms. Zhao’s mother-in-law on the evening of July 19, she happened to be visiting Ms. Zhao, whose home is under the jurisdiction of Qizhi Police Station. Zhao Qiang, the head of Chongren Police Station, thus worked with Qizhi Police Station officers to arrest Ms. Zhao and her mother-in-law, after they confirmed that Ms. Zhao, a 51-year-old production director at a pharmaceutical company, also practices Falun Gong.
The police raided Ms. Zhao’s home and confiscated over 50 Falun Gong books, three framed photos of Falun Gong’s founder, two computers, two printers, two media players, four cellphones, over 30 flash drives with information about Falun Gong, 3,000 yuan in cash with information about Falun Gong printed on the bills (as a way to overcome the strict censorship in China), as well as the 370,000 yuan that Ms. Zhao had just withdrawn from the bank for her child to buy a house.
Ms. Zhao’s mother-in-law was released the next day while Ms. Zhao was put under criminal detention and taken to the Harbin City No.2 Detention Center. The police refused to release her even after her term of detention expired. Her family hired a lawyer to represent her and the lawyer visited her in late August.
The Xiaoshanzi Police Station is now in charge of Ms. Zhao’s case. When her family went there to demand the return of the 370,000 yuan, chief Zhang Bin ignored them.
Zhang Bin (张斌), head of Xiaoshanzi Police Station: +86-13836043543Zhao Qiang (赵强), head of Chongren Police Station: +86-13936222111Liang Guang (梁广), head of Qizhi Police Station