[Chongqing, Sichuan Province] Wanton Arrests with No Causes
Fengdu county: On April 13, more than 40 people including Li Yan practiced Falun Gong in a group on the Houba Square. The police videotaped the event and thereafter arrested around a dozen practitioners and imposed them detentions ranging from several days to half a month. Since Li Yan persisted in practicing Falun Gong and promoting Dafa in the detention center, she has not been released so far. It was said that she might receive imprisonment.
In April, two practitioners, with one identified as Wu Shixiu, went to Beijing to defend Dafa by displaying a Falun Dafa banner. As a consequence, Wu was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment.
On April 9, 4 practitioners from an city (unidentified) were arrested at the Chongqing railway station when they were purchasing tickets in an attempt to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. The practitioner who volunteered to buy the ticket was detained for one month. The other three also received detentions ranging from a few days to one month.
On June 1, Gu Jun, an employee from No.44 Institute of the Ministry of Information Industry, was out with her child celebrating the Children's Day. Then, she received an urgent notice calling her back to her work unit. Upon her arrival, she was abducted by the security guards of her work unit and some policemen already waiting there. They took her home and ransacked her home thoroughly. When asked why she was taken away, the police did not give any explanation or even an answer. Later, she was taken to the Haitangxi Detention Center. This was the 3rd time Ms. Gu was arrested.
Around June 1, Luo Xiangxu, an employee from the General Machine Works in the Jiangbei district, and his father were taken away from their home by the police. Afterwards, the police made up an excuse accusing Luo Xiangxu of going back to his hometown (in Nanchong) to "associate", and to "instigate practitioners in Nanchong". In fact, he went back just to visit a family member who had been sick. At present, Luo's wife, Ms. Xiang Zhongyao, and his mother-in-law, Ms. Tang, are still under detention for going to Beijing to appeal last year. Luo's mother had also been detained for going to Beijing to appeal, but was released after her detention term expired. As a consequence, Lu Xiangxu's whole family has fallen victim to arrest or detention.
As disclosed by relatives of the Chongqing police, in the run-up of Chongqing Western Development Seminar and Trade Fair and the Chongqing Gourmand Festival, Chongqing police in the city proper and suburban regions arrested 100-200 "backbone practitioners', as they termed. The police did not give any explanation when they arrested the practitioners, who were only expected to be released after the Fair and the Festival winded up on June 20. The arrests of Gu Jun, Luo Xiangxu and Luo's father were merely part of the action. As a side note, all petition offices in Chongqing are now guarded by the police.
We wonder why the government is so fearful of its people telling truth and how they can arrest people without giving any explanation.
[Shanghai]
According to the latest news, around 40 male practitioners in Shanghai are currently being held in the Dafeng Farm, while female practitioners are detained in an unidentified farm of Qingpu County. They are forced to labor in the fields or do manual assembling.
