Officials in Weifang City, Shandong Province, Arrest Over 40 Falun Gong Practitioners in Preparation for the Olympics

On July 9th, 2008, officials in Weifang City, with Zhang Xinqi in charge, began a new round of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners under the pretext of "security" for the Olympics. Beginning at 6 a.m., officers from the 610 Office¹, public safety bureaus, and security bureaus arrested dozens of practitioners and confiscated their personal belongings.

During the past nine years, over 93 practitioners in Weifang City died because of the persecution. Nearly 1,000 practitioners were taken to forced labour camps, and almost 100 received different kinds of sentences. This time, officials arrested over 40 practitioners within just a few hours.

Selected details about the arrests:

1. Around 6 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, a dozen officers surrounded the homes of Ms. Yu Guifang and her daughter, Ms. Chen Nana. Ms. Yu, in her 60s, is a former deputy director of the Weifang Legal Bureau. She lived in the Beihai Garden Dorm. Ms. Chen is in her 30s. She was fired from a bank because she practised Falun Gong. She lived in the Weifang City Committee Dorm on Xinhua Road. Police broke into their homes through the windows and confiscated a great deal of personal property. Mother and daughter were arrested. Ms. Yu's husband, Mr. Chen Maolin, was at Ms. Chen's house at the time of the arrest. He was brutalized by the police and required hospitalization.

2. At 6 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, a Mr. Gao, director of the residential committee of Zhonghe Small District, Kuiwen District, Weifang City, and police officers from the Dongguan Police Station broke into Mr. Li Gang's house without a proper search warrant or identifying themselves. The police confiscated Mr. Li's laptop, Falun Gong books, and Falun Gong leaflets exposing the persecution. They arrested Mr. Li and his wife, Ms. Xu Qin; Ms. Yang Wenying; and Mr. Zhai, all from the Small District. Their houses were ransacked and their personal property confiscated.

3. At 6:30 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, officer Xu Xinping (female, in her 50s) from the Weifang Public Safety Bureau and nine officers from the Kuiwen District and Weicheng District Public Safety Bureaus and the Weifang City 610 Office broke into Ms. Cao Junping's house. Ms. Cao, in her 50s, lived in the East Factory Dorm of Weifang Prison. The officers confiscated 300 Falun Gong books and other Falun Gong materials, a printer, three laptops, two desktops, a digital camera, and a bank book. The estimated loss was about 50,000 yuan (US$7000). The police attempted to arrest Ms. Cao's husband and tried to force him to give her up. Her family refused to cooperate. At the same time, several police broke into the home of Ms. Cao's older sister, Ms. Cao Junfeng, and confiscated items worth 35,000 yuan (US$5,000). Ms. Cao Junfeng's husband had a heart attack and was hospitalized.

4. At 6 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, personnel from the Weifang City 610 Office and police officers from the Ershilibao Police Station opened the door of practitioner Mr. Shen Jili and Ms. Li Xueling's house with a universal key. The police handcuffed them and confiscated their personal property.

5. At 6 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, police broke into the home of Ms. Li Xiyun and her daughter, Ms. Kong Qian, after Ms. Li opened the door for a woman who claimed she wanted to check the power meter. Ms. Li, in her 50s and a former guard in Weibei Prison, and Ms. Kong, in her 20s, lived in the dorm of the Weifang 3rd Power Plant. Police arrested them and confiscated Falun Gong materials and other belongings.

6. At 9 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, officer Xu Xinping (female) from the Weifang City Public Safety Bureau mobilized many plainclothes officers and six police cars to surround practitioner Mr. Jiang Zhenbo's house. Mr. Jiang is in his 40s and used to be a guard in Weifang Prison. He was fired for practicing Falun Gong. He lived in the West Factory Dorm of Weifang Prison. Police broke in through Mr. Jiang's window on the second floor and his front door. The police arrested Mr. Jiang and his wife, Ms. Wang Hongxia, also a practitioner, and confiscated Falun Gong books and other items.

7. At 6 a.m. on July 9th, 2008, police arrested Ms. Li Lingyun, who lived in Erzhuangxi Village in the economic development area. Ms. Li is in her 60s. Her husband, Mr. Zhang Zhiyou, was a practitioner who died in 2000 as a result of torture. The police confiscated a laptop, three printers, Falun Gong books and other items.

Many other practitioners were arrested on the morning of July 9th, 2008, including Mr. Yu Wei (in his later 20s, from the economy development area), Ms. Wang Ronghua (in her 50s, a retired employee of the Weifang 3rd Power plant), Mr. Tan Foli (in his 70s, from the Weicheng District), Ms. Li Suying (57, a dentist), Mr. Lu Xinliang, and Mr. Liu Bing. Others arrested included Ms. Guo Xiaohui; her husband; her mother-in-law, who was later released after paying 1,500 yuan²; Mr. and Mrs. Li, Ms. Guo, about 60 years old; Ms. Ren Xianrong, in his 60s, from the Hanting District; Ms. Shi Xiuqin, 62; Ms. Xu Meifang, 53; Mr. Zhang Jinguo, 56; Mr. Zhang Shanyu, 52; Ms. Song Xiu from Gaomi City; Mr. Wang Zhibang; Li Hua; Ms. Guan Cuiling; Ms. Wang Haixia; Ms. Li Xiuzhi; Mr. Li Zhenfu; Sha (first name unknown); Zhao (first name unknown); two practitioners from Jiangzhuang Town; Ms. Wang Haijuan from Zhucheng City; Ms. Zhang Cuihua; and Mr. Zhao Yancheng, 70, from Changle County.

Many practitioners' houses were ransacked and personal items confiscated.

Most arrested practitioners are imprisoned in detention centres or brainwashing centres. According to a witness, Weifang Detention Centre and the Brainwashing Centre are overcrowded because of recently arrested practitioners.

People who participated in the persecution:

Zhang Xinqi, Secretary of Weifang City Committee: 86-536-8789950 (Office), 86-136-05360198 (Mobile)

Cui Jianping, Deputy Secretary of Weifang City Committee: 86-536-8789000 (Office)

Xie Weijun, Standing Committee member of the Weifang City Committee and Secretary of Political and Legal Committee

Zhang Guangxiao, Director of Weifang City General Politics Office

Wang Zhiliang, Director of Weifang City 610 Office: 86-536-8789217, (Office), 86-138-53610606 (Mobile)

Huang Weilian, Director of Weifang City Public Safety Bureau: 86-536-8783123 (Office)

Wang Wei, Division Head of the Domestic Safety Brigade of the Weifang Public Safety Bureau

Chen Xiangyang, Deputy Division Head of the Domestic Safety Brigade of the Weifang Public Safety Bureau

Xu Xinping, officer of the Weifang Public Safety Bureau

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/2008/7/14/182004.html