(Clearwisdom.net) In the beginning of the year 2000, thirteen Falun Gong practitioners from Xiheying Town in Zhangjiako City of Hebei province were illegally arrested. Two were released from the police station after cruel torture was inflicted in order to extort confessions. The remaining eleven practitioners (seven females and four males) were further detained. In addition to the two officials assigned to guard them, two to four extra town officials and another from each village would come to stand watch day and night over these Falun Gong practitioners for three months. It was just like being in prison. Practitioners were completely deprived of the right to speak and were deprived of their personal freedom.

The first test after being arrested was the illegal interrogation at the police station. The whole process was also involved brutal beating of practitioners. During the day, practitioners were handcuffed to the trees in the courtyard where they endured freezing temperatures. At night, they were handcuffed to the legs of a table and were not allowed to sleep. After two or three days of this torture, they were then sent to a detention center.

Practitioners were accompanied to the restroom by guards, and were also observed by the guards during meals.

During the night, the lights were left on and the doors were locked. The guards watched over practitioners in turn. Three young male practitioners were handcuffed even while they slept.

Practitioners were not allowed to talk to each other. Even their visiting relatives and friends had strict restrictions on what they could do or say.

Every morning, afternoon, and evening, practitioners were forced to stand facing the wall for two hours, three times a day and were not allowed to talk. Once, a female practitioner's home was illegally searched and her property was confiscated because she could not afford the so-called fine. Her husband was badly beaten. Everybody wanted to protest to the person in charge. A female guard whose last name was Zhao got angry and called two officials to beat up this practitioner. Guard Zhao forced the practitioners to stand for a total of five hours.

Another night, an official named Ma came into the room where practitioners were illegally detained and started cursing. Then he called a female and a male practitioner into another room and beat the male practitioner. He didn't stop beating until his hands were blistered. He also cursed the female practitioner. He then came back to the room and told everybody, "If I want to beat you any time I want, you have to come!"

During their spare time, practitioners were forced to work, to clean every room and office of the town government, to mop the floors, clean the windows and doors, pile up the coal, and clean up the yard. Because the time was around the Chinese New Year (in February) and cleaning needed to be done, they forced kind and innocent practitioners to do all the dirty and tiring jobs.

After the Chinese New Year, they used the excuse of "sensitive timing," since Beijing was applying for the position of host of the Olympics, and refused to release practitioners until several days after the ending of the People's Congress and the Political Consultation Conferences (two annual national conferences held in March). Then they started extorting money from people for their release. The standard of amount of this extortion was ten thousand RMB (about twelve hundred US dollar) for everyone who went to Beijing.

The scoundrels who persecuted Dafa practitioners:

(Hebei Province Wei County area code: 0313, zip code: 075700)

Wen Xiang: deputy secretary of Hebei Province Wei County Party Committee.

Work #: 7010930; Home #: 7216322; Pager: 127-2641200

Gao Feng: Director of Hebei Province Wei County "610 " Office (Note: the office specifically set up in charge of persecuting Falun Gong)

Work #: 7011097; Home #: 7215923

Shi Xiong: director general of Hebei Province Wei County Police Department

Work #: 7210447; Home #: 7210299

Liang Ligang: deputy section chief of Hebei Province Wei County Police Department Political and Security Section

Work #: 7212272