Open Letter to the People of Laizhou City, Shandong Province to Pay Attention to the Persecution

Dear People of Laizhou City,

Please pay your attention to the local persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and help stop these crimes. We urge personnel from the “610 Office¹”: Release all unlawfully detained practitioners with no conditions.

On January 24th, 2007, Yang Xuandi, Yu Zhibin, and Liu Jingbing from the “610 Office” of Laizhou City ganged up with a group of officers from Laizhou City Police Department and arrested 23 local Falun Dafa practitioners.

Most of the arrested were women in their 40s, 50s and 60s. Through a surveillance video camera, the police officers monitored people walking around the south entrance of the Laizhou Department Store Building. When they saw anyone walking in laps, 3 to 4 police officers would dash over and stuff the person into a police vehicle without saying anything. Then they would drive the vehicle back to the criminal division for interrogation. They would release those who weren't Falun Gong practitioners, and sent all practitioners to Dianzi brainwashing centre, later transferring them to a detention centre.

The authorities do not dare to arrest Falun Gong practitioners in public, so they claimed that they were catching thieves. Afraid of publicity, they only sentence and detain practitioners in secret.

Ms. Yang Zhukun was arrested on January 24th, and was sentenced to one year of forced labour and sent to Wangcun Forced Labour Camp.

Han Fangxi and his wife Yan Shukun are still being held in Laizhou Detention Centre. There is no one to look after their child at home, and nobody to take care of their orchard. Someone stole 200 to 250 kg of their apples. Someone even entered their house to steal, with the child not aware of what was missing. 5 or 6 big trees from their orchard have gone missing. Their relatives and child went to the “610 Office” to ask for their release, but they were denied. They didn't let the couple go back to check their home, and didn't even allow them to see their child and relatives.

The police extorted money from and abused family members of the 23 practitioners arrested on January 24th, with the money ranging from 2000 Yuan² to 20,000 or 30,000 Yuan.

In 2006, the police had arrested practitioners Mr. Lu Chengjun, Ms. Xu Yongqing, Ms. Liu Hongying, and some others. Mr. Lu Chengjun and Ms. Xu Yongqing were sentenced to 6 years in March 2007, and Ms. Liu Hongying was sentenced to 5 years. They are being held at Jinan Prison.

Note

1. "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

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

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/3/25/151500.html