Police from Sichuan Province Arrest Eighteen Falun Dafa Practitioners, Subject Several to Brutal Torture

The police in Cangxi County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province started to implement a new round of persecution of Dafa practitioners in February after discovering leaflets exposing the persecution and flyers in a few towns in Wenchang District, Cangxi County. They rented the second floor of the Cangxi County Medical Administration Bureau as their "headquarters" and assembled police from nearby towns. They deceived Dafa practitioners into entering their headquarters and then detained them there. They beat the practitioners brutally, and deprived them of sleep for many consecutive days.

From February to May 2006, the police in Cangxi County, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province arrested eighteen Dafa practitioners. The major sites producing leaflets exposing the persecution in the area were damaged, and computers and other equipment was confiscated. Six practitioners were sentenced. Several practitioners were released after nearly ten thousand yuan¹ was extorted from each one. Police officer Hou Xiangyu and Yang Cong from the National Security Team claimed: "There is nothing we cannot do to persecute practitioners." Right now the authorities use two ways to extort money from the practitioners. The first is to impose a large fine. The second is to detain practitioners for a long time, regardless of whether they have money or not. This gives the police leverage to get the money in the end.

Among the six Dafa practitioners sentenced, Kou Zhixiu, Huang Qiong, He Xiuzhen and Luo Changhua are imprisoned at the Nanmu Temple Prison in Zizhong County. Kou Zhixiu and Luo Changhua were sentenced for one year and nine months. Huang Qiong was sentenced to one year and three months. He Xiuzhen was sentenced to two years and He Xuequan to one year and three months. The others' situations are unknown.

Ms. He Xiuzhen is about 65 years old. One afternoon in February, policemen broke into her home. They did not show any search warrant before searching her home. They did not find anything except a Falun Dafa leaflet on her person. Even so, they still arrested her and sent her to their headquarters for brutal persecution. He Xiuzhen refused to sign any "guarantee statement²." After Ms. He was detained in the detention centre for a month, the police manufactured "proof" saying that they found a large amount of leaflets in her home and that she handed out a lot of leaflets. Because of this, five months after she was released from the Nanmu Temple Prison the second time, He Xiuzhen was sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

Ms. Deng Shaoqiong is 54 years old. In order to persecute her more severely, the police used the evidence that in 2005 other practitioners gave her 3,000 yuan to make leaflets. They sentenced her to one-and-a-half years in prison.

Ms. Yang Shixuan is 40 years old. On the morning of March 20th, 2006, several police officers went to her shop. They searched her shop thoroughly and did not find anything they wanted. But they still arrested Yang Shixuan and took her to their headquarters to persecute her. Several police officers beat and kicked her simultaneously. They trampled on her bare feet with their leather shoes, kicked her legs, pulled her hair and struck her ears. Ms. Yang was bruised all over. Later that evening, several police officers lifted her up and then let her fall down to the ground. At the same time, they held their knees up against her back. Her vertebrae were injured badly and she fainted from pain. But the police still did not let Ms. Yang go. They pushed her onto a bed, held her hands, feet and head, and pinched her neck. Moreover, they also tried to pour tea into her nose. After they failed, they kicked her to the ground and forced her to kneel down on a stool. The police did not allow Yang Shixuan to sleep or go to the toilet for a few days. Her body was badly injured and swollen. She could not sit or squat. Her urine contained blood. Even so, the police still tried to force her to acknowledge that she handed out Falun Dafa leaflets.

Personnel responsible for the persecution in Cangxi County:

Zhou Jing, head of the county
Wu, chief of the county police department
Li Yun and Zhang Guanglan, officers of the 610 Office
Hou Xiangyu, officer of the National Security Team

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

2. "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2006/8/17/135757.html