Large Scale Arrests and Abuses of Falun Gong Practitioners in Qidong County, Hunan Province before the Beijing Olympics

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Before the Beijing Olympics, in Hunan Province, the 610 Office1 and local police stations in every township in Qidong County ordered police to arrest Falun Gong practitioners on a large scale and detain them. They ransacked practitioners' homes, and confiscated Falun Gong books and informational materials and valuable personal property. The police also beat practitioners.

On July 26th, a cadre from the township Politics and Law Committee of Buqiao Township in Qidong County led three police officers to break into practitioner Chen Yibin's home in Niaotang Village, and Luo Xiaohua's home in Duiji Village. They ransacked the homes and took away two satellite dishes, two digital cameras, two DVDs, four MP3 players, three radios, one mobile phone, one desktop computer, six Falun Gong books and some leaflets exposing the persecution of Falun Gong.

On July 26th, the Qidong County police went to the Hengyang Qingshuitang Lead-Zinc Mine and broke into the workers' dormitory. They arrested practitioners Zhou Meiying, Liu Meirong, Li Yingchun and Luo Guangzhong from a nearby village. The police stole Liu Meirong's mobile phone, an MP3 player and some Falun Gong books, and other items. The police stole Luo Guangzhong's MP3 player and some Falun Gong books. Then they handcuffed the practitioners for the whole night and beat them.

On July 26th, practitioner Deng Shunhua went to Qiyang County to visit her mother. Liu Fangzhi, head of the Qingshuitang Police Station took some officers to Deng Shunhua's mother's home and arrested her using the excuse of "security for the Olympics." The police took Deng Shunhua from her mother's home and then sent her to the Qidong County Detention Centre and detained her for 26 days. The police released her after the Olympics were over.

On July 26th, at 8:00 p.m., after practitioner Chen Bing from the Buyunqiao Township finished his day's farm work and had just returned home, the police drove to his house. When he saw them, Mr. Chen ran out the back door of his house. The police saw that Chen Bing was not at home so they pretended to drive away. One hour later, they returned. Chen Bing left again through the back door. They then told Chen Bing's son that they would no longer try to arrest his father, and told his son to ask his father to come back home. Chen Bing's son believed the police and shouted loudly for his father to come home. Chen Bing heard his son's voice and believed it was true, so he came out from where he was hiding. Right as he arrived home, the police, who were waiting in ambush, arrested him. The police sent Chen Bing to the county detention centre. The family's farm production was severely interrupted and devastated.

On the morning of July 28th, practitioner Zeng Dingxiang from Guanjiazui Town in Qidong County was doing some housework at home. Suddenly a group of police officers broke into her home and tried to arrest her, saying that her home was an Falun Gong exercise practice site. The police detained her for an entire night. Later they released her after her husband gave the police 4,000 yuan2.

On August 4th, at around 2:00 p.m., practitioner Shi Zhenhua was taking a break at home when a police car stopped on the road in front of her house. Two officers got out of the car, went to the second floor and kicked her door. They couldn't open the door so they asked the neighbour across the hall to borrow some tools to open the door. The neighbour refused. After that several police officers climbed up from the first floor through the security grill and broke into Shi Zhenhua's window. Shi Zhenhua tried to run away, but there were police officers everywhere. Finally, seven or eight officers dragged Ms. Shi into the police car and took her to the police station in Baidi City Township. Several officers led by Zhou Aimin kicked and beat Ms. Shi. Her legs were severely injured and her chest and back were badly bruised. Then the police took Ms. Shi to the county detention centre.

On the night of August 5th, the Qidong County Police Station took seven police cars and conducted a large-scale arrest of practitioners. At around 10:00 p.m., the police arrived at the No. 4 Group of Dayuan Village. They surrounded practitioner Zhang Zhihu and Guang Mingtian's home. At that time, they were not at home. The police noticed that the house key was placed on the top of the door. They opened the door and began searching the home. They didn't find any Falun Gong books or materials but they confiscated the practitioners' mobile phones.

The police then drove to practitioner Zhang Shengfa's home nearby. Because the road was very steep, the police could not drive up there, so they tried to ask several female farmers who were walking by to help push the police car. The farmers refused and told the police that people who practised Falun Gong were law-abiding citizens. They told the police that it made no sense to come at night, trying to arrest those kind people.

At midnight, the police went to Zhou Xiaomao's home, a practitioner from Yongnian Village, and surrounded her house. They broke into her house. Zhou Xiaomao's husband was very angry and told the police, "How dare you try to arrest a kind person! Why don't you go arrest those bad people such as thieves, kidnappers, and drug-addicts? Do you think that you police can do whatever you want? Unless you have guns tonight, you can't stop me from stopping you from arresting my wife." Facing the local residents' righteousness, the police dared not proceed. Later, the police ordered some officers with electric batons to forcibly arrest Zhou Xiaomao.

Ms. Shi Jinhua, a practitioner from Baidi City Township, was also arrested. The police kicked and hit her, and dragged her into the police car. They detained her for 23 days.


Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

2. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/9/11/185695.html

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