Benxi City Police Break into Falun Dafa Practitioners' Homes to Partake in Robbery, Kidnap and Extortion

Since February 2002, Benxi Police Department, its local police stations, and the local residential committees have colluded with Falun Dafa practitioners' work units and kidnapped practitioners. As a result many practitioners have been sentenced to prisons and forced labour camps and many have become homeless.

• February 4 was "Liaoning Falun Dafa Day." Benxi Police Department and its local police stations deployed the entire police force to illegally arrest several dozen Falun Gong practitioners.
• On February 31, the police destroyed a place in Pingshan District where Falun Dafa materials were stored. Practitioner Tian Xiaofei was kidnapped. They took away equipment and cash totalling more than 50,000 Yuan. [Chinese currency, the monthly salary for an average Chinese urban worker is about 500 Yuan] They even took his child's savings and every item of value in the house.
• On April 25, Benxi police again illegally arrested several dozen practitioners.
• In May, Luo Gan [who has been persecuting Falun Gong from his position of authority in the central government] went to Liaoning Province. Benxi police went everywhere to kidnap Falun Gong practitioners. Benxi Forced Labour Camp again held a brainwashing class. Nearly 20 practitioners from Benxi Huanren County were illegally detained in Benxi Forced Labour Camp Drug Abstinence Section to be forcefully brainwashed. The police from Gaoyu Police Station kidnapped practitioners Jiang Shumei and her son Fu Xiaodong from home and sent them to the brainwashing class. They have been illegally detained ever since.
• On May 31, the police destroyed a site that stored Falun Dafa materials in Benxi. They kidnapped three practitioners including Zhang Liang. They took away a laptop computer, printer, and 20,000 Yuan in cash.
• On June 4, the police kidnapped practitioner Gao Jinxiang
.
• On June 10, Benxi Steel and Iron Co-operation kidnapped several dozen Falun Gong practitioners among them Wang Xiaoxia and sent them to be forcefully brainwashed in Benxi Forced Labour Camp.

Currently, both brainwashing and torture are ongoing in the Benxi Forced Labour Camp. Within two to three months, more than several hundred Falun Gong practitioners were kidnapped. Some remain illegally detained in the detention centre. Since the number of practitioners suddenly increased and the detention centre became full, (five out of eight people detained in the women's cells are Falun Gong practitioners,) they sent practitioners to the labour camp. Many practitioners were illegally sentenced to labour camps and more are suffering mental torture in the brainwashing class.

The persecution of practitioners has escalated to include the persecution of their families. The police at Gongren Police Station of Pingshan Police Branch broke into practitioner Xu Qiuju's house in an attempt to kidnap her. Xu Qiuju escaped. The police then kidnapped Xu's husband and child who do not practise Falun Gong and took them to the local police station. Xu's husband argued with the police. Finding more than 1000 Yuan in her husband's pocket, one policeman grabbed the bills and put them into his own pocket. Xu's husband asked for the money back. Not only did the officer not return the money, he even slapped Xu's husband twice and swore at him. The police said that it was OK to violate the law in dealing with Falun Gong and family members were no exceptions. In the end, the practitioners' family was released after the police took all their property and valuables. Waiting for them is an empty house. In contrast, the police spent the money they had extorted extravagantly. They deprived the basic rights of the practitioners who believe in "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and those of their families.

Recently, we often hear that the police robbed Falun Gong practitioners and their families. One practitioner had several hundred Yuan in cash on the bed and the police illegally broke in and took everything. Some police even took all the coins and loose change. They told the families of the kidnapped practitioners to "bring the money for release," and extorted around 10,000 Yuan each time. In order to obtain information regarding the practitioners who were forced to leave home, the police persecuted their families by harassing, fining, beating, and even kidnapping them. Several police beat a practitioner's family member who was more than 60 years old. Many practitioners became homeless. In some areas, besides those who were kidnapped, most of the practitioners became homeless to avoid further persecution.