(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in one direct-administered municipality and three provinces were harassed for their faith between September and December 2023.
Below are the details.
Shanghai
Ms. Li Baoying, a resident of Yangjing residential area, Pudong New District, Shanghai, moved to her mother’s home in Lujiazui, Shanghai on September 12, 2023, after the elderly woman passed away.
Two staffers from the Laoshanwucun Residential Committee came to collect Ms. Li’s information on September 15. Ms. Li wasn’t home and her husband, who didn’t practice Falun Gong, gave them his phone number. They also asked whether they were staying there for a short term or long term.
Hours later, a police officer came with three residential committee staffers. Ms. Li said she was planning to split her time between the two places. The police ordered her to list her mother’s place for rent and move back to her own home.
Wu Ruishen of the Laoshanwucun Residential Committee came to find Ms. Li again on September 18. She didn’t allow him to enter her home but talked to him at the door. Wu threatened that she must move back to her own place, or they would place her under 24/7 surveillance.
When Ms. Li was accompanying her husband for a dental appointment on October 1, he received a call from Huangpu District Police Station. After he revealed his location, two officers came in less than five minutes. They checked their IDs, took their photos, and searched her husband’s bag.
On November 29, Wu of the residential committee came to harass Ms. Li again with an officer from the Meiyuan Police Station and a staffer from the Lujiazui Street Committee. Ms. Li demanded to see the police ID. He flashed it in front of her. He wouldn’t tell her his name, but let her record his police badge number 012329. He asked her, “You said you would live in both places, have you gone back to your residence in Yangjing recently?” Ms. Li responded, “It’s my freedom to decide where to stay. You have no right to interfere with that.” The officers threatened to check on her every month before they left.
Qian’an City, Hebei Province
An officer of the Xing’an Street Police Station in Qian’an City, Hebei Province, knocked on Ms. Liu Xiumin’s home at 3 p.m. on November 27, 2023. She wasn’t home and her husband opened the door. The officer ordered Ms. Liu to report to the police station within a week.
Also in November 2023, an officer came to harass Ms. Hao Qingzhi at home. She didn’t open the door for him. Ms. Wen Cuijuan received a harassment call from a Yangdianzi Police Station officer. An officer from the same police station also called Ms. Liu Yanrong’s husband, demanding to visit them at home. Her husband refused to see them.
Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province
As soon as Ms. Tan Chunmin left home around noon on November 30, 2023, she was arrested by two officers from the Lichun Town Police Station and two officials from the Dongfeng Village Committee. They took her to the police car, claiming to videotape her and that her case was very serious. As soon as the car arrived at the Mengyang Town Justice Bureau, the two police officers left.
A staffer from the justice bureau took Ms. Tan to a room and said a high-up supervisor would talk to her. She noticed two men and a woman in the room. A man wearing a mask said he was “Teacher Mao.” Another person said he was with the Pengzhou City Political and Legal Affairs Committee. He said he was in charge of the police and threatened to arrest and sentence her to prison. The person also slandered Falun Gong and accused Ms. Tan of being a repeat offender because she had been arrested for practicing Falun Gong before. They also threatened to monitor her daily life or raid her home.
From 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., the officers kept trying to pressure Ms. Tan to renounce Falun Gong. She didn’t budge. The female officer then wrote “Abide by the laws and regulations and be a good citizen” on a piece of paper and ordered Ms. Tan to sign it. She knew they were playing word games. She took another piece of blank paper and wrote, “Comply with laws and regulations that don’t violate human nature and be a better person.”
Yingkou City, Liaoning Province
Ms. Hua Guilan, a 79-year-old Yingkou City, Liaoning Province, resident, was visited by four people one afternoon in early December 2023. The four people included a relative of hers, a village secretary, and two government officials. One female official introduced herself as being in charge of promoting religion.
The female official attempted to persuade Ms. Hua to convert to Buddhism. She instead tried to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to them. The officials then asked her who she usually interacted with and what activity she usually did every day. It’s not clear whether Ms. Hua answered their questions. Before leaving, the other government official said to the village secretary that they weren’t done with Ms. Hua’s case.
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