Mr. Yan Zhijun and Several Other Practitioners from Tonghe County, Heilongjiang Province, Arrested and Money Extorted from Them

Personnel from the Tonghe County 610 Office¹ and Police Department arrested and persecuted several Falun Gong practitioners right before the Olympics. While the practitioners were held in the detention centre, they were mentally and physically tortured. The practitioners who were arrested included Mr. Yan Zhijun, Ms. Chen Shoumei, and Mr. Zheng Yulin.

On July 29th, 2008, Liu Peimin from the Tonghe County Police Department's Domestic Security Division, Head of the Fulin Township Police Station Chi Haibo, and policeman Zhang Xueyan broke into practitioner Mr. Yan Zhijun's home in Fulin Township. They attempted to take him away. Mr. Yan's two younger sisters and other family members, who are not practitioners, tried to protect him. The police then called in reinforcement, and many police officers savagely took Mr. Yan and his two sisters away. The sisters were released ten days later.

The police made a big mess of the house and the grain in the storage room was spilled all over the ground. In the Tonghe Police Department, Mr. Yan Zhijun was seriously beaten by Liu Peimin and Chi Haipo. Furthermore, they tried to force him to reveal information about other practitioners. When he refused, they tied a plastic bag over his head three times and beat him cruelly. They kicked his hands, which were in handcuffs; his head, and every part of his body with their boots. Liu Peimin dragged Mr. Yan along the ground by his handcuffs, causing great pain.

Liu Peimin has beaten practitioners several times. One practitioner from Fulin Township was arrested by Liu and taken to Chalin River. Liu dragged him by the hair and pushed his head into the river several times. Once when Liu arrested a female practitioner, he tied a plastic bag over her head and beat her cruelly with a wooden plank. The practitioner was covered with cuts and bruises from the beating.

In the evening on July 29th, 2008, and the afternoon of July 30th, 2008, practitioners Ms. Chen Shoumei and Mr. Zheng Yulin from Tonghe County were arrested and had their house ransacked. Early that day, practitioners Mr. Song Zhanlin and Mr. Zhang Wenguang were arrested and had their house ransacked.

Mr. Yan Zhijun was detained for a month, and he had 10,000 yuan² extorted from him before he was released. Ms. Chen Shoumei and Mr. Zheng Yulin are still being held in Tonghe Detention Centre.

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/2008/9/27/186652.html