(Minghui.org) At least 35 Liaoning Province residents were arrested on July 10 and 11, 2019 for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime for 20 years.
The arrests of the practitioners took place across four cities in the province and lasted from early morning until 8:30 p.m. The police arrested most practitioners at home and ransacked their residences. Several family members of the practitioners were also arrested and detained for several hours.
The police claimed that the arrests were made in order to “maintain social stability” prior to the 70th anniversary of the Chinese communist regime's rule.
In Shenyang City, Mr. Jia Xiaodong was arrested by more than 20 officers at his workplace, a power transformer manufacturing company, around 2:30 p.m. on July 10. His colleague Mr. Wang was also arrested. The police ransacked Mr. Jia's home and interrogated him in the basement of Jixian Police Station, before sending him to Heping District Detention Center. Mr. Wang was later released.
Ms. Zhao Guifen, a resident of Xinbin County, Fushun City, was harassed at home on July 10. The officers from Xinbin County Domestic Security Division said to Ms. Zhao that they were carrying out orders from above and that they were under a lot of pressure themselves.
The officers attempted to force Ms. Zhao to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to comply, they searched her home and put all the Falun Gong related materials they found on the floor to take videos.
Ms. Zhao and her husband, both 71, were then brought to the police station, where they were ordered to step on the photo of Falun Gong's founder, Mr. Li Hongzhi. The couple refused to comply. Ms. Zhao was later transferred to Fushun City Detention Center for further detention. Her husband was released.
Mr. Zhang Jun, of Jinzhou District, Dalian City, was stopped by the officers at the middle school he worked at around noon on July 10. The officers attempted to arrest Mr. Zhang and take him to the police station. He refused to comply and escaped. The police stayed the entire afternoon outside his home, waiting to arrest him.
Another resident in Dalian, Ms. Mou Hua had her home broken into and ransacked on the morning of July 12, while no one was at home. The police confiscated her Falun Gong books and a cellphone. They harassed her 15-year-old daughter at school and asked for her phone number. Then the officers found Ms. Mou's 78-year-old father and forced him to take them to their corn field to look for her. The elderly man was so terrified by the police that he couldn't remember whether he was having lunch or dinner in the evening.
Download the list of 35 arrested practitioners with confirmed names and other relevant information. There are a few other arrested practitioners whose names and detention information are still being investigated.
Related report:
Shenyang City, Liaoning Province: 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day
