Police Kidnap Practitioners and Hold them for Ransom

[Beining City, Liaoning Province]

From September 24 to 27, 2001, the Beining City Police Department launched a mass arrest of practitioners in its jurisdiction. Policemen completely ignored the sanctity of the law and committed numerous crimes. Whenever they came to a house, they would say, "We have been informed that you have Dafa materials. We're searching your house." But after entering the house, they turn it upside down without showing any legal documentation. They would gain access to one-storey houses by climbing over the walls. To make the search "legal", they would ask the family to sign a form, threatening that if they didn't sign, they would arrest the whole family. If any Dafa materials, flyers or tapes were found, they would detain the practitioners immediately.

After some practitioners were detained, their family members were anxious to have them released. They received this "advice" from the police: "Bring 1,000 Yuan to have your relative released." It was clear that the police were extorting money by kidnapping practitioners. However, when the families actually tried to "buy" the freedom of the practitioners, they found that they had to pay more than 1,000 Yuan (average monthly wage of a Chinese urban worker is 500 Yuan). In addition to the original ransom fee, they had to pay meal expenses, "early release fees", etc. for a total of more than 400 Yuan.

There were a few dozen practitioners who were arrested in late September. Many of their families paid the ransom, but the rest of them either didn't have the money, or their families resisted the extortion. One afternoon, some families received notification that they only needed to pay 800 Yuan to secure the release of the practitioners. Some families still replied that they didn't have any money. Later the police again called the families, telling them to pay the meal expenses and the practitioners would be released. This time the families paid, and the police released the practitioners.

During this period of time, one practitioner's husband worried about her being tortured in the detention centre, so he contacted the local police station to try to have her released. The policemen threatened him, "You must try to buy her freedom immediately. She will be sent to the Masanjia Forced Labour Camp soon." Then they asked the family to pay 3,000 Yuan. That morning, after her family paid the money, the practitioner was released. Later, when the husband heard that other practitioners were also released that afternoon, and some families didn't pay any money except meal expenses, he was very upset but couldn't say anything.

Source: http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/12/24/17080.html