(Minghui.org) At least nine residents of Huaihua City, Hunan Province, were arrested or harassed between September and October 2023 for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
The communist regime has been notorious for intensifying the persecution of Falun Gong around “sensitive dates,” which in late 2023 included the Mid-Autumn Festival (September 29), the 19th Asian Games (September 23 – October 8), the October 1 National Holiday, and the “One Belt One Road” forum held in Beijing in mid-October.
Ms. Wu Fangming, 60, was arrested on September 28, 2023 and remains in custody.
Ms. Gu Benxiu and Ms. Zhang Mingying were arrested on October 12, 2023 and released later that day.
Ms. Jiang Changxian, 59, was arrested on October 15, 2023 and remains in custody.
Ms. Yin Qiuyang, 75, was arrested around October 16, 2023 and remains in custody.
Ms. Zhang Min, a retired bank employee in her 60s, was harassed three times in October 2023 (on the 16th, 18th, and 19th). Ms. Xue Baoyu, Ms. Luo Minghua (a retired school teacher), and Ms. Jiang Jixian (a retired co-op worker) were harassed at home in late October 2023 as well.
The Hecheng District Procuratorate issued formal arrest warrants for Ms. Wu, Ms. Jiang Changxian, and Ms. Yin on an unknown date. Their cases were then submitted to the Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County, which has been designated to handle all Falun Gong cases in Huaihua City and its subordinate cities and counties.
The Zhijiang County Procuratorate indicted the three women and submitted their cases to the Zhijiang County Court, which started prosecuting them separately in March 2024.
Ms. Wu appeared in court on March 18, 2024, but the trial was declared a mistrial one hour later. The court instead held a pre-trial conference on April 12, 2024.
Ms. Yin was set to stand trial on March 26, 2024, but upon her lawyer’s request, her court date was rescheduled for April 12, 2024.
Ms. Jiang’s court date was initially set for March 27, 2024 but was postponed to April 8. The trial, however, was changed to a “prosecutor-led hearing” at the last minute. [In China, a “pre-trial conference” is usually facilitated by the judge in charge of a case and attended by both the prosecution and the defense. The purpose is to come to an agreement on the legal procedures to be used in the upcoming trial, the witnesses to be called to stand, evidence to be excluded, and what judge(s) should be recused. On the other hand, a “prosecutor-led hearing” is facilitated by the prosecutor in charge of the indictment process and may be held either before or after a verdict is reached. The purpose is to hear different parties’ concerns about the trial or already-determined verdict.]
Ms. Wu, Ms. Yin, and Ms. Jiang are all currently held at the Huaihua City Detention Center. Below are more details of their latest arrests and past persecution (if any), as well as information about the other six practitioners.
Ms. Wu Fangming was arrested on September 28, 2023, while dropping off a letter at a post office. Officers from the Hexi Police Station and the Hecheng District Domestic Security Division had been monitoring her, and followed her to the post office that day.
Ms. Wu credits Falun Gong for curing her congenital heart disease, but she was repeatedly arrested and harassed for upholding her faith. While held at a brainwashing center for one year, she was tortured to the point of having a relapse of her heart disease, with bleeding in her heart. Only then was she released.
Ms. Wu was arrested again in 2019 by captain Zhang Hua from the Hecheng District Domestic Security Division and more than ten officers from the Tuanjie Police Station, including deputy chief Yuan Wenjie and his subordinates Peng Keyuan, Pan Maolin, and Duan Yunbao. She was later sentenced to one year and four months, with a 2,000-yuan fine.
Ms. Gu Benxiu and Ms. Zhang Mingying were out and about on October 12, 2023, when they were followed by plainclothes officers and had their pictures taken. The police stopped them but let Ms. Zhang go after finding no Falun Gong materials in her bag. They then informed the aforementioned captain Zhang Hua, who soon arrived to arrest Ms. Gu and take her to the Xinyuan Police Station for interrogation.
On October 14, 2023, captain Zhang and two officers arrested Ms. Zhang from her home. They took her to the Huainan Police Station for interrogation. Hours later, they drove her to the Huaihua City Detention Center for another round of interrogation.
Both women were released on the day of their arrest.
Ms. Jiang Changxian was arrested a bit past 8 a.m. on October 15, 2023, after giving a passerby a calendar bearing Falun Gong messages. The police raided her home and confiscated more than 40 Falun Gong books, three computers, two cellphones, and 420 yuan in cash.
They took her to the Chengnan Police Station. An officer punched her in the head twice. She yelled for help and officer Zeng Yang (badge number 080695) responded, “Who beat you? I didn’t see anyone beat you!” The first officer taunted her, “I beat you. So what?? I’m just going to beat you!” But he ripped off his badge after Ms. Jiang warned him she would file complaints against him for beating her.
At 3 p.m. on October 16, 2023, the police took Ms. Jiang to a local lockup to serve a one-week detention. Officer Rao Jianyang (badge number 080264), who was in charge of the case, picked her up on October 23 and said he’d take her for a physical examination. She refused and he then called her husband and daughter Ms. Yang Xiaofan (a school teacher) from number +86-18174559001.
Rao threatened to harass Ms. Yang at her school if she failed to persuade her mother to undergo a physical examination. He promised to release Ms. Jiang as soon as she complied and signed statements to renounce Falun Gong. Both Ms. Jiang and her daughter refused.
Rao then took Ms. Yang to an unknown facility (likely the Chengnan Police Station again). Two policewomen drove Ms. Jiang to the Hongxing Road Red Cross Hospital on the morning of October 23, 2023 but failed to make her submit to a physical examination. About eight male officers tried in the afternoon, and took Ms. Jiang to the same hospital. They took off her top and pressed her down for the medical workers to draw her blood, do an ultrasound and EKG, and other exams.
After the health checkup, Ms. Jiang was driven to the Huaihua City Detention Center, where a guard surnamed Chen signed the admission paperwork.
Ms. Yang and four relatives went to the Hecheng District Domestic Security Division on the morning of December 18, 2023 to report the police brutality against her mother. The police threatened to have her and her relatives’ jobs terminated. Captain Zhang Hua instructed his subordinates to drag Ms. Yang and her relatives from the second floor all the way to the lobby.
The police then took the five family members to the Yingfeng Police Station and held them there for more than five hours. Ms. Yang and her relatives’ cell phones were all checked to see if they had videotaped what happened. All relevant videos were deleted.
Ms. Yang experienced pain and soreness after being dragged. She had a high fever and was unable to work for several days.
Prosecutor Zhou Yulan of the Zhijiang County Procuratorate indicted Ms. Jiang on March 27, 2024. She reported the police assault to the procuratorate, but never received a response.
Her daughter Ms. Yang and her Beijing lawyer filed a complaint against the police for beating her, but have heard nothing back yet.
Ms. Yin was arrested as soon as she stepped out of her home around October 16, 2023. The arresting officers from the Yingfeng Police Station had been monitoring her for a long time before making the arrest. They took her to the Huaihua City Detention Center.
Ms. Yin was previously arrested on September 28, 2014 and later sentenced to four years.
On October 16, 2023, captain Zhang knocked on Ms. Zhang Min’s door. She was not in. Captain Zhang returned two days later with several officers. Ms. Zhang refused to open the door for them. A little past 8 a.m. on October 19, Ms. Zhang stepped out of her door only to be blocked by Zhang and a few officers. They warned her not to go out to distribute Falun Gong information materials. When she refused to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong, captain Zhang did not insist and left with his officers.
Ms. Xue Baoyu, Ms. Luo Minghua (a retired school teacher), and Ms. Jiang Jixian (a retired co-op worker) were harassed in late October 2023.