(Minghui.org) A married couple in Changchun City, Jilin Province, were arrested at home at 7:30 a.m. on February 24, 2023, for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The arresting officers were from the Xixin Police Station. They took Mr. Zhuang Xiankun, around 49, and his wife Ms. Han Yingli, around 48, to the Jiutai Detention Center. The couple were held there until March 4 when they were transferred to the Weizigou Detention Center, where they remain.
Both Mr. Zhuang and Ms. Han once worked for the Changchun City Automobile Factory. They have been repeatedly targeted for their faith over the past 24 years of persecution.
Wife Once Jailed for 5 Years
Ms. Han went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong around February 2001 and was arrested. She was held at a detention center affiliated with the Beijing Police Department for several months. A man who claimed to be from the National Security Bureau later went to her workplace to investigate her background. She was then sentenced to five years in the Jilin Province Women’s Prison. She had to entrust the care of her baby, then only months old, to her younger brother.
Husband Gets 11 Years for Tapping Into Cable TV
Mr. Zhuang stayed in Beijing between October and December 1999 to raise awareness of the persecution. He was arrested and detained for 15 days.
He was arrested at work in February 2000 by agents from the Jincheng Police Department. He was given one year of forced labor but had his term extended by seven months because he refused to renounce Falun Gong. He served time at Chaoyanggou Labor Camp and Fenjin Labor Camp. He was released in September 2001.
On March 5, 2002, Mr. Zhuang participated in the TV interception to raise awareness of the persecution of Falun Gong. He was arrested and sentenced to 11 years in Shiling Prison.
Background of the TV Interception in Changchun on March 5, 2002
Eighteen Falun Gong practitioners tapped into the state cable television broadcast network around 8 p.m. on March 5, 2002, in Changchun, Jilin Province. The programs “Self-immolation or Hoax?” and “Falun Dafa Spreads Worldwide” were broadcast on eight channels simultaneously for about 45 minutes.
The entire city of Changchun was stunned, and many people learned the facts about Falun Gong. Some thought that the ban on Falun Gong had been lifted.
Jiang Zemin, the former head of the Chinese communist regime, gave a secret order to “kill all Falun Gong practitioners involved.” Within days, more than 5,000 practitioners in the Changchun area were arrested, and seven were beaten to death.
Fifteen of the arrested practitioners were given heavy sentences on September 18, 2002: Ms. Zhou Runjun (20 years), Mr. Liu Weiming (20 years), Mr. Liu Chengjun (19 years), Mr. Liang Zhenxing (19 years), Mr. Zhang Wen (18 years), Mr. Lei Ming (17 years), Mr. Sun Changjun (17 years), Mr. Li Dehai (17 years), Ms. Zhao Jian (15 years), Mr. Yun Qingbin (14 years), Mr. Liu Dong (14 years), Mr. Wei Xiushan (12 years), Mr. Zhuang Xiankun (11 years), Ms. Chen Yanmei ( 11 years), and Ms. Li Xiaojie (4 years).
Three of the sentenced practitioners, including Mr. Liu Chengjun, Mr. Lei Ming, and Mr. Liang Zhenxing, have died as a result of the persecution.
Related Reports:
The 14th Anniversary of Tapping into China's State
Television to Broadcast the Truth about Falun Gong: Remembering a Courageous Act
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