Fifty-Six Practitioners Arrested in Heilongjiang Province

Fifty-six Falun Gong practitioners from Harbin and Shuangcheng were arrested on November 13th. About 50 of them were sharing their Falun Gong cultivation experiences at a practitioner's home in the residential area of a Shuangcheng City Building Department and were arrested at 12:10 a.m. that day. On November 30th, nine female practitioners were taken to the Qianjin Forced Labour Camp to serve one-and-a-half year terms. Six male practitioners were taken to the Suihua Forced Labour Camp. Two elderly female practitioners were released due to their having high blood pressure. The rest remain at the Shuangcheng Detention Centre and the Harbin No. 2 Detention Centre.

According to an eyewitness, a group of five practitioners was the first to leave the home at around 11:00 p.m. on the night of the arrests. Three of them headed north and soon found that the intersection was blocked by police cars, and that they had been followed. They tried to walk quickly to lose the people following them. An officer shouted through the loudspeakers of the police car, “Arrest them first. The others won't open the door if we go there right now. Wait until 12:00 a.m. They will open the door after finishing meditation. We will take action then.” The officers converged on the three practitioners and arrested them.

At 12:10 a.m., the practitioners prepared to go home. As soon as they opened the door, the team of officers broke in and sprayed mace on the practitioners, who were instantly blinded. Some of them still had red and swollen eyes ten days later. All of the officers had electric batons in their hands. Whoever moved at all was shocked with the batons.

The night turned into chaos. The home is several hundred square feet, and more than 100 people were crowded inside. The officers began dragging the practitioners outside one by one, with each practitioner being held by two officers. Most practitioners did not have their shoes on and were forcibly put into the police cars. Ms. Tian Xiaoping was beaten, her head was bleeding, her clothes were torn to pieces, and her trousers were wet with urine.

The practitioners were taken to the Shuangcheng Patrol Office Division and subsequently interrogated. Some practitioners were later taken to the Harbin No. 2 Detention Centre, some were taken to the Shuangcheng Detention Centre, and the rest were taken to the Shuangcheng Detention Station.

On the afternoon of November 13th, police ransacked Ms. Luo Yanjie's home and arrested Ms. Luo's son, Mr. Fan Wentuo, and two visitors, Ms. Jiang Xiaoyan and Ms. Fang. At around 3:00 p.m., the officers also arrested two additional practitioners, Mr. Kang Changjiang and Ms. Wang Yali. The police ransacked Mr. Kang's home in the evening and arrested four more practitioners who were there. Two of them were released.

The police ransacked Mr. Fan Shude's home and confiscated many personal belongings. Early on the morning of November 14, Mr. Fan's family received a phone call from the police, asking them to go to the hospital to bail out Mr. Fan. When the family arrived at the hospital, they found that Mr. Fan had suffered a mental collapse and a heart attack. They took him to the Harbin No. 1 Mental Hospital to receive medical treatment.

Personnel involved in the arrest:

Sun Yongbo, director of the Heilongjiang Province Police Bureau

Wang Xiaoxi, member of the Harbin City Political and Judiciary Committee

Liu Yuemin, head of the Shuangcheng City Political and Judiciary Committee

Xiao Jitian, chief of the Shuangcheng Domestic Security Division

Wang Yubiao, deputy chief of the Shuangcheng Domestic Security Division
Wang Xiaoxi: +86-451-87661001 (Office)
Liu Yuemin: +86-451-53165517 (Office), +86-13303666006 (Mobile)
Xiao Jitian: +86-451-53118809 (Office), +86-451-83208058 (Home), +86-13936238777 (Mobile)
Wang Yubiao: +86-13836050988 (Mobile)

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2011/12/6/250227.html