(Minghui.org) Under the Chinese Communist Party's persecution policy, many law-abiding citizens were arrested while going about their daily lives. They caused no harm to anyone nor disturbed any social order. Yet, simply for their belief in Falun Gong, numerous small business owners, farmers, housewives, and professionals were seized by police in the most unassuming places.
The following examples offer a glimpse into the CCP's arrest of innocent people while they were carrying on with their everyday life.
Arrested When Selling Noodles
On the morning of December 13, 2014, Ms. Li Meiling (李美玲) of Shandong province was selling noodles at the Rizhuang market. A young woman stopped by Ms. Li's stall to buy noodles. When Ms. Li was preparing the noodles for her, she told Ms. Li to wait while she went to make a phone call. A few police from the Rizhuang police station then arrived shortly thereafter and arrested Ms. Li. She was sent to the Mopudong Third Detention Center.
During the arrest, the young woman even helped the police drag Ms. Li to the car. It turned out that the young woman was actually from the Rizhuang Police Station and had deliberately come to the market to check if Ms. Li was around.
Arrested While Preparing Dinner at Home
Ms. Jin Changlin (金长林) from Jiangsu province got home from work in the late afternoon of December 2, 2014. She was preparing dinner when somebody came up to her door and shouted for her to open it.
A dozen people consisting of the director of the police station, community branch secretary, and police officers dashed into her house when she opened the door. As they rummaged through her house, they snapped photos as well. She was then arrested and taken to the police station.
Arrested While Walking Down the Street
Heilongjiang Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Jiang Bo (姜波) was walking down the street on April 4, 2014 when police from the Harbin Police Station arrested him. He was given an administrative detention that day and criminal detention on April 16.
This is a common tactic used by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The administrative detention expires in 15 days while a criminal detention period can vary in length. Practitioners will be given administrative detention when there is a lack of clear evidence, while the CCP gathers false documents in order to incriminate them. Thereafter the detention will be changed from administrative to criminal within 15 days.
Mr. Jiang's arrest was approved on May 20 and a hearing was secretly held later. His family was not informed of his situation during this period.
Arrested While En Route to Attend a Funeral
Ms. Qin Li (秦丽) was rushing from Chongqing to her hometown in Fengdu on the night of November 12, 2014 for a relative's funeral when she was stopped for identification checks at the train station.
Like the rest of the Falun Gong practitioners, Ms. Qin's identification card was tampered with by the CCP. Hence, the train station staff could immediately identify that she is a practitioner when they checked her ID card. They detained her and informed the police. Ms. Qin was then arrested and sent to the detention center. Her house was also raided.
Arrested for Buying Books
Ms. Bai Xiaoyan (白小燕) traveled to Hong Kong and bought Falun Gong books. Upon her return to Guangdong on November 30, 2013, Shenzhen police found the books in her belongings and arrested her. She was sent to the Shenzhen detention center shortly afterward.
Arrested for Requesting to Observe a Public Trial
A trial was held on the morning of July 30, 2014 for four Falun Gong practitioners: Ms. Tang Qingying (唐清英), Ms. Yin Qiuyang (尹秋阳), Ms. Tang Kaiju (唐开菊) and Ms. Xiao Guiying (肖桂英) in Hunan province court.
A practitioner, Ms. Li Shirong (李世荣) and Ms. Tang Kaiju's 80-year-old mother were stopped by the director of the 610 office when they entered the court. They were told that there are no more tickets to observe the trial.
When the director stopped Ms Li, several police officers came forward and lifted her off the ground, and carried her to the police car. Ms. Tang's mother was also taken away.
Why was a trial held for these four practitioners? Because they had previously requested to attend the trial of another practitioner, Ms. Chen Kaiyu.
Ms. Chen was tried in court on November 21, 2013. Her relatives and friends, including the four practitioners, requested to observe the trial. However they were informed by the court staff that they needed to apply for tickets when the hearing starts in the afternoon.
When they went to apply for the tickets in the afternoon, the court room was closed and the court was heavily guarded. No one was allowed to observe the trial.
Three months later, Hecheng Public Security Bureau submitted a request to the procuratorate to arrest the four practitioners, accusing them of blocking police cars and disturbing the court proceedings. The procuratorate did not approve the arrest due to a lack of evidence.
However, the four practitioners were taken away and detained at the detention center on April 9 when they went to the Domestic Security Division to inquire about the situation.
