Retired Teacher Arrested for Hanging a Banner Celebrating World Falun Dafa Day

(Minghui.org) A resident of Yanjiao Town, Sanhe City, Hebei Province was taken from her home by police on May 14, 2023. Her arrest warrant was approved ten days later. Ms. Sui Lixian, a retired teacher around 72 years old, is now facing indictment.

Ms. Sui’s arrest stemmed from an order issued by Pan Jiqiang, the 51-year-old chief of Sanhe City Police Department. When he visited Yanjiao Town around May 10, 2023, he saw a banner reading “Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day on May 13.” He ordered Dongcheng Police Station in Yanjiao Town to arrest whoever hung the banner and swiftly prosecute the “offender.” The police station poured over the surveillance videos and determined that Ms. Sui had hung the banner.

Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, is an ancient spiritual discipline that was introduced to the public on May 13, 1992. Since 2000, practitioners worldwide began to celebrate this day as “World Falun Dafa Day,” to express their gratitude for the benefits they’ve received from the practice.

Due to Falun Gong’s huge popularity, the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute it in July 1999. The persecution continues today, and practitioners inside China can’t freely celebrate this special occasion. Instead, many hung up banners and distributed informational materials as their special way of celebration and raising awareness about the persecution.

The police staked outside Ms. Sui’s apartment building on May 13 and videotaped her entering and exiting the building, in order to confirm that she was the same person recorded in the video.

The next day at around 5 p.m., Li Wei, from the Sanhe City Domestic Security Office, along with Cui Xiaoping and a few other officers from Dongcheng Police Station, knocked on Ms. Sui’s door, claiming to be there to conduct a census.

Ms. Sui believed them and opened the door. As soon as they rushed in, they showed her a photo on a cell phone and asked her if she had hung the banner in the photo. They also played the video they took of her entering and leaving her apartment building and asked her to confirm it was her. She remained silent.

The police arrested her and two other Falun Gong practitioners who happened to be visiting her. After taking the trio to the Dongcheng Police Station, they returned to raid Ms. Sui’s home again, and confiscated her computer, printer, Falun Gong books, and informational materials.

The three practitioners were interrogated multiple times later that day, and they refused to answer the police’s questions.

Ms. Sui’s two guests were released the next day, but she was transferred to the Sanhe City Detention Center.

Ms. Sui is a native of Heilongjiang Province and has been living in Sanhe for more than a decade. She was previously arrested in 2013 while reading Falun Gong books along with a few other practitioners, and was held at the Langfang Brainwashing Center.

Perpetrators’ Contact Information:

Pan Jiqiang has been actively persecuting local practitioners over the years, and is on the list of perpetrators compiled by Minghui.org. His phone number is [phone].

Li Wei from Sanhe City Domestic Security Office: [phone] Dongcheng Police Station: [phone], [phone]Chief Sun Zhiwe (badge number 078533): [phone]