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Six Practitioners in Shuangcheng, Heilongjiang Provicne Were Illegally Arrested - Over 400 of Their Relatives Are Appealing for Them
(Clearwisdom.net) On the morning of January 23, 2007, Mr. Dong Liantai,
43, and Mr. Tian Hua, 40, went to visit their relatives who were detained in
Wanjia Forced Labor Camp in Harbin City. Both are farmers from Dancheng Town in
Shuangcheng City, Heilongjiang Province. They arrived there too early as the
labor camp hadn't opened yet, so they sat on the edge of the farm field next to
the labor camp. The labor camp guards in the watchtower saw them and
illegally arrested them. When the two practitioners questioned why
they were arrested, the guards said they didn't need to provide a reason. The
two practitioners were sent to Xinnong Town Police Station in the Daoli
District, Harbin City. On the same day, the police also arrested four practitioners at the bus stop
in Xinnong Town. Ms. Jiang Yahong, 30, is from Wanglong Town and was there
visiting a relative. Ms. Miao Xiubo, 35, is a middle school teacher. She was
visiting a classmate during her vacation. Mr. Xue Ruihui, 53, and Mr. Zhang
Fengrong, 50, are farmers. Both were on a business trip and waiting at the bus
stop. A police car from Xinnong Town Police Station stopped at the bus stop. Liu
Zhaoping and three other police officers jumped out of the car. Without showing
any identification or providing any reasons, they pushed the four practitioners
into a small store on the side of the road. The police called someone and said,
"We arrested four of them." When the practitioners questioned why they
were arrested, the police denied the arrests, "We didn't arrest you."
When bystanders gathered around to see what was going on, more police were
called in and they took the four practitioners to Xinnong Town Police Station.
The practitioners were subjected to body searches, and all the money they had
with them was taken away. (More than 200 yuan was taken from Ms.
Miao, who said to police, "You illegally conducted robbery and arrests. I
will sue you when I'm free.") Four female guards from Wanjia Forced Labor Camp were called to the police
station. Two of them immediately start slapping Miao Xiubo's face on one side.
They kept scolding her and said, "We will make this side of your face much
higher than the other." The other two kept hitting Ms. Jiang in the back of
her head with their palms, which made Jiang feel very dizzy. She almost lost
consciousness, and later she vomited repeatedly. Police from the local police
station also beat Mr. Xue. The six practitioners were subjected to 12 hours of
torture at the police station. At around 1:00 a.m. on January 24, without any
legal process, the six practitioners were sent to Harbin Detention Center. Mr.
Zhang Fengying suffered a brutal beating there. He was handcuffed and subjected
to a torture referred to as the iron chair. On the day the practitioners were arrested, their family members heard the
news and went to the Xinnong Town Police Station. They were told that no one was
detained there. However, the next day, the police informed the town authorities,
and the four families in the local area were told to pay 500 to 550 yuan to get
their family members back. The money was paid, but no one was released. On the
fourth day, police from Shuangcheng County National Security Division and the
local police station conducted an illegal house search of Mr. Xue Yuehui's home.
They didn't show any legal identification, and they forcibly entered the home
and rampantly searched it. They didn't find anything they were interested in. On
that same day, Jiang Yahong's father suffered a beating by local village
officials, who yelled, "Why do you allow your daughter to wander
around?" Afterwards, her father had sudden asphyxia and spasm. He continued
to experience these symptoms. Her mother got sick for several days as well.
However, no one would tell them the location of their family members. Because
many people know that the police do take practitioners' organs for organ
transplantation and later destroy their bodies to reap huge profits, the
families of these practitioners were very worried and spared no cost in looking
for them. On the fifth day and under intense inquiries, police in the Daoli
District Police Department finally told them, "They are detained in Harbin
Detention Center." Visitors were allowed to visit the detention center on weekdays and weekends.
However, the detainees' families had to pay 430 yuan for reputed food costs for
15 days of detention and pay 80 yuan per visit for a meal at the detention
center. They had to pay this fee whether they wanted to eat or not. The six
practitioners' families were all farmers and lived under very poor conditions.
They had spent a lot of money looking for their family members. Now they had to
pay again in order to see them. On the tenth or eleventh day, they finally
managed to get the money required and visit their family members in the
detention center. Many of them hugged each other and cried. By then, Ms. Jiang Yahong had suffered a brutal beating at the detention
center, which made her dizzy and have headaches. She couldn't eat anything for
almost ten days. Whatever she ate, she threw up, and sometimes she vomited
blood. She was very skinny and in poor shape. The guards still forced her to
eat, and they threatened to conduct force-feeding in front of her family
members. The force-feeding could cause death, which her family firmly disagreed
with and requested to take their daughter home. The head of the detention
center, Sun Zhaocheng, along with other guards had to push Jiang's family
members out of the visiting room and out of the detention center. The meal that the detention center provided had only some peanuts and several
meatballs that generally cost less than five yuan. It was blackmail to have to
pay 80 yuan for it. Since any detainee in the detention center could disappear
at any moment, the family members were scared about this and wanted to visit
every day. This would cost them a large sum of money. The practitioners' families tried to reason with the head of the national
security division at Dali District Police Department. The families asked why
those practitioners were arrested. He couldn't provide any reasons, and he just
yelled loudly. They questioned why, as an upholder of the law, he violated the
law himself. Why was he not able to provide any evidence? The police must have
permission to detain anyone over 24 hours. How did they explain those who were
detained for over 288 hours without any legal paperwork? The staff working in
the visiting room said, "We are inspecting the case now. It has not been
confirmed yet." If it was not confirmed, the accused should be released.
Why were they still detained for so many days? The police said, "Listen to
you or listen to me? We have to wait for the conclusion of the
investigation." The family members complained, "How can we live like
this? This severely violates a citizen's right of freedom." The staff said,
"The government says Falun Gong is forbidden." The family members
said, "That is nonsense! Most of our family members were patients before
they practiced Falun Gong. Falun Gong saved their lives and made them good
people. What is wrong with that? Many people practice Falun Gong. It is said
that about 100 million people are practicing it worldwide. Which law states that
practicing Falun Gong is against the law and that practitioners can be arrested
at will? Falun Gong is a belief, and our Constitution permits the freedom of
belief. You should listen to us and immediately release them. It is our legal
right." The staff became impatient and asked the family members to leave.
Jiang Yahong's mother kept crying. Two police officers took her to the elevator
and left. Currently, the six practitioners are still detained at Harbin Detention
Center. 441 of their relatives are appealing for them. They have made the
following requests: Immediately release the detained practitioners, return the
money that the police extorted from them, financially compensate them for the
loss that the victims and their families suffered, and investigate the legal
responsibilities of those who work at Wanjia Forced Labor Camp, Xinnong Town
Police Station, and Deli District Police Station in Harbin City. February 3, 2007 Posting date: 2/27/2007 |