(Clearwisdom.net)

Since Jiang's regime started the brutal suppression and persecution against Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, lawless officials in Loudi City, Hunan Province have been engaged in an all-out campaign to arrest Falun Gong practitioners. For five years they have unlawfully placed practitioners under surveillance, harassed and followed them, ransacked their homes, arrested and held them in custody, sentenced them to forced labor and prison, and extorted money from them. Based on partial statistics, more than eighty practitioners in Loudi City have been arrested by officials of the 610 Office. Over 200,000 yuan [500 Yuan is the average monthly income for an urban worker in China] has been extorted from more than a dozen people. They have also seized three copy machines and two personal computers. Eight people were sent to the labor camps. Five have been sentenced to seven years in prison. They are Liang Keming, He Bigang, Mr. Zhou Qingfeng, Ms. Li Guiying, and Ms. Peng Zhenyun. One person, Wei Qun, has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Some of the relevant facts are as follows:

Around 4:00 a.m. on one morning in June of 2000, Loudi City police arrested five practitioners doing the Falun Gong exercises in a park after receiving reports. The police then went to their homes to arrest four more people. After interrogation, eight of them were detained without legal cause for ten to fifteen days.

In the first half of 2000, four practitioners went to Beijing to file appeals. They were subsequently placed under arrest. Three practitioners were each sentenced to one year of forced labor. One of the practitioners operated an internet café which was later ransacked by the police. Two personal computers were confiscated. The internet café went out of business. While holding the practitioners in custody, the police handcuffed them by twisting their arms behind their backs and then extorted sums of cash from them.

Late at night in February of 2001, the police broke into a practitioner's home. Two practitioners, He Bigang and Liang Keming, were arrested and sent to the No. 1 and No. 2 Loudi City Detention Centers. One practitioner remained remarkably steadfast in her belief. She persisted in studying the Fa, doing Falun Gong exercises, clarifying the truth to inmates, writing signs of "Falun Dafa is great." As a result she was handcuffed for eighteen days. Prior to her arrest, leaders of her company coerced her to resign, offering a one-time 10,000 yuan severance payment for her twenty years of employment. After being held in the detention centers for almost two years, the two practitioners were each sentenced to seven years in prison. Their families were not allowed to read the court verdicts and they were secretly taken to Changsha Women's Prison and a forced labor camp in Jinshi, Changde City respectively.

Mr. Zhou Qingfeng is the only son in his family. He did not earn a high salary. His father was seriously ill. He was arrested while distributing truth-clarifying materials by himself. His home was ransacked and a copy machine was confiscated. After suffering almost one year of torture at Loudi City No. 2 Detention Center, he was sentenced to seven years in prison. He is currently being held at the Jinshi Forced Labor Camp in Changde. The condition of his father deteriorated rapidly upon learning of his son's prison term, and he died soon thereafter. Later his family had to relocate because of new construction. His elderly mother could not come up with enough money to purchase a new home. She has nowhere to live and has no source of income. Her life has turned very miserable. After being arrested by the police, Mr. Zhou had been held at Loudi City No. 2 Detention Center. An inmate was assigned by prison guards to brutally beat him. The following day, the inmate threw up blood and could not even sit up; he did not know the cause.

In April 2003, several practitioners were having discussions in the Chunyuan Park regarding group Fa study, exchanging experiences and sending righteous thoughts. Among the participants was an informant. As a result, twenty-one practitioners who showed up were all taken into custody. They were held in a large room, and they sent righteous thoughts as a group to eliminate evil. Half of them were released the same night. Six practitioners were placed under arrest: Tang Qiaocheng was released after the police extorted 80,000 yuan from him. Mr. Zhang Wenbing, who had been arrested three times in the past and paid more than 50,000 yuan due to extortion, was sentenced to forced labor to be served outside the labor camp after several months of custody. Ms. Liu Fuying, who had been arrested several times in the past, paid extortion money of more than 30,000 yuan and had her retirement salary taken away, and was sentenced to forced labor to be served outside the labor camp. Ms. Li Guiying, who had served one year of forced labor, was arrested again for distributing truth-clarifying materials, and was unlawfully sentenced to seven years in prison after several months of custody at the No. 2 Detention Center. She is being held at Changsha Women's Prison. Ms. Peng Zhenying was sentenced to seven years in prison after several months in custody and is being held at Changsha Women's Prison. Another woman practitioner remains in the detention center as she was not able to pay any extortion money.

Telephone numbers of leaders of Loudi City 610 Office:

Country code: 86; city code: 738;
Deng Xiangyang, director: work, 8223312; home, 8317060; cellular, 86-13508448828;
Hou Qingyun, deputy director: work, 8230071; home, 8314824; cellular, 86-13973899022;
Li Nan, section head: work, 8230071; home, 8312277; cellular, 86-13327382828.