Four Elderly Practitioners in Shandong Province Arrested

Four practitioners from Chenbei Village, Tangmiao Township, Yuncheng County, Shandong Province were arrested at their homes by the police on April 16th, 2012. Those arrested were Jiang Yuwen, 64, Zhang Wangming, 65, Jiang Huaizhen, around 60, and Liu Guanglei, 70. At no time during the arrests or incarceration were proper procedures followed.

On April 16th, four police cars pulled up to the homes of three practitioners, two in front of Zhang Wangming's home, one in front of Jiang Huaizhen's home and the other in front of Xu Chuanjian's home. The practitioners all lived on the same street.

Police and plainclothes officers from Tangmiao Township ransacked the practitioners' homes and arrested Zhang Wangming, Jiang Yuwen and Jiang Huaizhen. Xu Chuanjian was not present and was able to avoid arrest. However, the police still confiscated a printer, a computer, and about 20,000 yuan¹ from Xu Chuanjian's home. They threatened the families of those arrested that they had to pay 20,000 yuan to see their loved ones released.

Xu Chuanzong from Chenbei Village lured Liu Guanglei into the station where he was arrested by saying, “You can return home if you go there (Tangmiao Police Station) and admit you were wrong.” Xu Chuanzong escorted Liu Guanglei to the police station, but Liu Guanglei never returned.

After Jiang Huaizhen was arrested, she suffered a fall and she was completely unable to move her right leg. Over night her leg became extremely swollen and developed several blisters. The police managed to extort 5,000 yuan from her family before setting her free. They simply did not want to take the responsibility for her injuries and told her, “You can go back home to practise.”

Zhang Wangming's Arrest

Zhang Wangming was having a nap when two cars pulled up outside the home and a dozen officers went in, asking where the bedroom was. The panicking family members pointed the way and the officers ransacked the bedroom while swearing. Zhang Wangming said, “How come you're swearing? You're police officers, how is that right?” When the police officers went to arrest Zhang Wangming, Zhang said, “We are just trying to be good people and don't commit any crimes.” The police knew they were in the wrong but they seemed to compensate by being argumentative. They said, “Why don't you study Mao Zedong's works?” Zhang Wangming replied, “There's no benefit to me if I read them, so why would I?” The police confiscated some materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong and Falun Gong books. The police said that they had been monitoring Zhang Wangming for over a month.

At the moment Liu Guanglei and Zhang Wangming are being held at Xiyu Detention Centre in Yuncheng County. Jiang Yuwen has been made to pay 15,000 yuan in cash by police since the arrest.

Those involved in the persecution are:

Police officers from the Tangmiao Township Police Station

Xu Chuanzong, Party Secretary of Chenbei Village

610 Office and detention centre in Yuncheng County

Note

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