The Impact of the Persecution on Self-Employed People from Longkou City in Shandong Province

On the evening of July 5th, 2008, Wang Qi, approximately 40 years old, directed over 30 police officers from the Domestic Security Brigade in Longkou City in Shandong Province to arrest Falun Gong practitioners Mr. Guo Weidong and Ms. Luan Kefen, a married couple. They have been detained at Zhangjiagou Detention Centre in Longkou City to this day and are undergoing torture.

Mr. Guo and Ms. Luan, both in their 40s, are residents of Luokuo Economic Development Zone. Both are self-employed and in the retail business. Mr. Guo does the business of processing aluminium products with some of his relatives, and Ms. Luan sells clothes. They started practising Falun Gong in 1999. On the evening of September 15th, 2006, police officer Wang Qi directed a group of police officers to climb over a wall into Guo Aidong's home (Mr. Guo's brother), where they arrested Mr. Guo and Ms. Luan. The next day, police officer Wang Qi came back with the intention to arrest Guo Aidong and his wife, but they were not at home at that time. Police officers continued to come to their home to harass them. As a result, they were forced to leave their home and couldn't carry on with their family business. Ms. Luan's mother was terrified after her daughter was arrested and ended up being hospitalized, which further added to the stress on Luan's family.

At 6 a.m. one day in August 2008, police officer Wang Qi again directed about two dozen police officers to break into practitioner Mr. Ma Daobin's home in Longkou District Economic Development Zone, where they arrested Mr. Ma. After he was detained at Zhangjiagou Detention Centre at Longkou City for one month, he was sentenced to a forced labour camp for 18 months, and currently he is being detained at Wangcun Forced Labour Camp and undergoing torture.

Mr. Ma Daobin, who is in his 40s, opened a small restaurant with his family. Because he has been holding himself to the standard of Truth-Compassion-Forbearance, his business has been going well. Since his arrest, his restaurant has closed and his family members, including his child, parents and siblings are all suffering greatly.

At 6 a.m., on September 22nd, 2008, police officer Wang Qi once again directed about a dozen police officers from Longkou Economic Development Zone Police Sub-Bureau to break into practitioner Ms. Wang Chunling's home in Longkou City, where they arrested Ms. Wang. She is currently being detained at Zhangjiakou Detention Centre.

Ms. Wang Chunling, who is in her 50s, is a resident of Longkou Development Zone. She started practising Falun Gong in 1999. Before that, she fought with her husband on a regular basis, and her husband often beat her and swore at her. As a result, she was ill. After she began to practise, not only did she recover from her illnesses, but her marriage became more harmonious. Before she was arrested, they used to be in the business of selling produce. Since her arrest, her husband cannot concentrate on managing their business, which has resulted in a great financial loss for them.

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/10/5/187157.html