(Minghui.org) Eight Changli County, Hebei Province residents were arrested on August 16, 2022 for talking to people about Falun Gong in Anshan Town, Changli County. They were detained for 30 days and then released on six-month bail.
After the eight Falun Gong practitioners’ bail expired in mid-March 2023, the Anshan Town Police Station, which arrested them, ordered them to report to the Changli County Procuratorate to renew their bail for an unknown amount of time.
Ms. Shen Yanru was forced to live away from her home. Her son, who had been listed as her guarantor of her initial six-month bail, was threatened with arrest. He ended up having to bribe the police to avoid being arrested.
Ms. Wang Ying, Mr. Wang Qinghua, Mr. Chen Dong, and Ms. Bai Hanzhi refused to follow the police order and were all briefly detained on August 17, 2023. Ms. Wang and Mr. Wang were forced to sign the new bail forms, while Mr. Chen and Ms. Bai tore up the paperwork.
After they were released hours later, they later submitted applications to dismiss the new bail condition and drop the cases against them altogether. Ms. Xuan Xiaowen, who was arrested together with them back in 2022, also joined them in requesting to have her bail and case dropped. The Changli County Procuratorate and the Anshan Town Police Station refused to accept the applications. The Changli County Police Department, which oversees the police station, later accepted the applications.
The current case status of the remaining two arrested practitioners, Ms. Yang Jinxia and Ms. Li Jinhua, is unknown.
Four Briefly Detained Again
A group of officers from both the Xinji Town Police Station and the Anshan Town Police Station arrested Ms. Wang at home and Mr. Wang at work on August 17, 2023. They took the two practitioners to the Xinji Town Police Station before driving them to the Changli County Procuratorate, where they were forced to sign the new bail form, “On Bail Pending Judicial Proceedings.” They were then released that day.
On the same day, about seven officers descended at Mr. Chen Dong’s home. Officer Song Yuze (+86-13313337600, in charge of the case) flashed a summons from the procuratorate and ordered Mr. Chen to sign his new bail form. Mr. Chen tore up the paperwork and the police swarmed him and dragged him to the police cruiser. They threatened to give him criminal detention.
The police first took Mr. Chen to the Xinji Town Police Station, where officer Zhao Jiansheng kicked him twice. They next took him to the Anshan Town Police Station, where Zhao continued to torture Mr. Chen.
Zhao held Mr. Chen in a dark room and slapped him in the face so hard that he was knocked down to the ground. Zhao next showered him with kicks and punches, before putting him in a metal cage. Two other officers watched him and shined flashlights into his eyes and screamed at him when he dozed off. His hands were handcuffed and went numb.
On the next morning, the police took Mr. Chen to the procuratorate, but he refused to sign the bail form. Guo Xiaochen of the Second Supervision Department in the procuratorate signed Mr. Chen’s name on the form and noted that he refused to sign himself. Mr. Chen was released a bit past 5 p.m.
Ms. Bai was seized off the street on August 17, 2023. She was also taken to the procuratorate and ordered to sign the new bail form. Like Mr. Chen, she ripped the paperwork and was released hours later.
Procuratorate and Police Station Refuse to Accept Applications to Dismiss New Bail Condition
Mr. Wang, Ms. Wang, Mr. Chen, and Jia (alias, a family member of Mr. Chen’s) went to the procuratorate on August 21 to submit their applications to dismiss their new bail conditions and their cases all together. They visited Guo in his office. Zhang Bowen, another procuratorate official who happened to be there, initially took the applications and stepped out of the room. Before long, he returned to say that the materials were not factual and the procuratorate could not accept their applications.
Zhang said the practitioners could submit the applications to the Anshan Town Police Station, the agency in charge of their cases. Zhang also said that the Changli County Procuratorate was not in charge of reviewing the cases as they would eventually forward the cases to their supervising agency, the Funing District Procuratorate.
Mr. Chen asked to see the bail form to confirm his name was not on there because he had refused to sign. Guo and Zhang pretended to be looking for his case and claimed that the Anshan Town Police Station had taken the bail form. Jia warned that whoever signed the bail form must bear responsibility should Mr. Chen get sentenced following the new bail condition. Guo then admitted he signed Mr. Chen’s name on the form, but specifically noted Mr. Chen didn’t sign himself. Guo said he was doing that for Mr. Chen’s sake; otherwise he would have been taken back into custody.
Since the procuratorate had refused to take their applications, Mr. Wang, Ms. Wang, Mr. Chen, and Jia next visited the Anshan Town Police Station. The police there said once the practitioners signed the bail forms at the procuratorate, the police station was then no longer in charge of the cases.
After being given the runaround, the practitioners returned home.
The next day, August 22, Mr. Wang, Ms. Wang, Mr. Chen and Jia returned to the procuratorate to talk to Guo. Mr. Chen emphasized that the Anshan Town Police Station had framed him and Guo should never have signed his name on the new bail form.
Zhang and Liu Jiaqi, another procuratorate official who was also present, said they would then destroy the bail forms of Mr. Chen, Mr. Wang, and Ms. Wang. Liu also promised to return the cases to the police. It is unclear whether that has happened.
Police Department Accepts Bail Dismissal Application
Mr. Wang and Ms. Wang returned to the procuratorate on August 23. This time, Ms. Bai and Ms. Xuan joined them as well, also requesting to have their bail conditions and cases dismissed.
Zhou Tieyong, a vice captain of Changli County Police Department, which oversees the Anshan Town Police Station, happened to be visiting the procuratorate. Guo asked him to talk to the practitioners. Mr. Wang complained to him that the procuratorate and the police station had refused to accept their bail dismissal applications.
Zhou agreed to take the applications and promised to read them later on. He also warned the practitioners that the police department must follow procedures in handling the applications. Mr. Wang reminded him not to follow the persecution policy and he threatened to give them criminal detention.
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