(Minghui.org) The police in Harbin City have intensified the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners this past September due to the October 1 Chinese Communist Party (CCP) holiday and the 19th National Congress of the CCP on October 18, 2017. The total number of practitioners arrested was 52, and over 228 practitioners are known to have been harassed.

The regions that experienced the most severe persecution were Yilan County with 29 arrests and Shuangcheng District with over 140 practitioners harassed. A large scale arrest of over 20 practitioners occurred on August 31.

Arrests

The police have used several methods to arrest Falun Gong practitioners, which included taking photos and videos. Below are typical cases of arrests:

At 11 a.m. on September 9, the director of the Yilan County Dongcheng Police Station and director of the residential committee went to the homes of Ms. Wu Yingqiu and Ms. Jiang. They waited in the police car as as neither was at home. After Ms. Wu was arrested and brought to the police station, they interrogated her and took photos of her with Falun Gong books and other materials illegally taken from her house. They also made her sign guarantee statements and demanded her contact details before finally releasing her that night.

Ms. Zhao Xiuzhi was held at the detention center after being arrested at her home on September 24 by officers from the Lujiajie Police Station. When the police entered her home, they were carrying video recorders. They filmed the whole house and took away personal items.

Ms. Pan Yanhua from Nangang District was arrested on September 21 by police from the Wenhua Police Station. The police located her home using her door card and ransacked her house. The items confiscated were an image of Falun Gong's founder Master Li Hongzhi, Falun Gong books, a computer, and a cell phone.

Ms. Li Yi, also from Nangang District, was arrested on September 24 at her home by two police officers. Her home was ransacked, and a printer, an image of Master Li, and Falun Gong books were confiscated.

Cases of Harassment

With less than one month before the 19th National Congress of the CCP, the police harassed over 200 Falun Gong practitioners and their family members.

At 5 a.m. on September 1, police officer Qi Yufeng from Daoli District went to several practitioners' houses to harass them. The excuse provided was that the 19th National Congress was coming up, they wanted to see if the practitioners were at home, and they wanted updated photographs of the practitioners.

Ms. Yue Yanzhi and her family were repeatedly harassed by the police in Xiangfang District. The first occurrence happened on the night of September 22 when two police officers went to her house with a form and asked, “Is Ms. Yue still practicing Falun Gong? Where does she live? Where does she work?” The police also took down information about her husband.

The second occurrence of harassment happened at 4 p.m. on September 24. A police officer called Ms. Yue's husband and told him to go to the police station the next day to sign a document. Her husband told the police that he didn't have time. The officer then told the husband to tell Ms. Yue to go instead but he responded with, “She doesn't have time either.”

The third incident of harassment was on the night of September 25, when the director of the Tiedong Police Station and two more officers went to Ms. Yue's house again. An officer said, “We have instructions from above. As the 19th National Congress is coming up, they are afraid that Falun Gong practitioners might go to Beijing to appeal.”

The police also asked if Ms. Yue still practiced Falun Gong, and wanted to know where she worked and lived, and if the family has a car. They ordered her to go to the police station the next day.

At 3 p.m. on September 23, Mr. Han Qingbo from Nangang District was harassed at his home by a police officer named Zhao Xigang. When Mr. Han opened the door, Zhao used his cell phone to take photos. Mr. Han blocked the cell phone with his hand. Zhao told him that if he refused to have his photo taken, he would have to go to the police station but refused to tell Mr. Han the reason. When several papers accidentally dropped on the ground, Mr. Han picked them up and saw a form about Falun Gong.

Ms. Lu Ying was harassed by three police officers from Shangzhi City on the morning of September 18. She had accompanied her son to China Unicom and had just walked out of a room when she saw a policeman holding a video recorder. When she asked why were taking photos, a staff person at the counter asked her if she still practices Falun Gong.

Ms. Lu said, “Why should I not practice? This practice is very good.” As soon as she said this, the police officers left.

Ms. Yin Xiaoxia was harassed at 3 p.m. on September 20 by five police officers from Mulan District. They carried a video recorder when they went to the supermarket owned by Ms. Yin's family. When they couldn't find Ms. Yin, they went to another of her shops and tried to force her husband to tell them her whereabouts.

When her husband refused to answer, they insisted on getting her contact details. Before this last incident of harassment, the police had gone to her home and filmed her husband when she was not at home.

List of Arrested Practitioners

Below is a list of the 52 practitioners arrested during the month of September. Nine practitioners have been released.

Yilan County (29):Li YouLiu YuminXia GuihuaWang YunjieWu YuqinDeng ShumeiBu BaolingSong KonghuaKang YanlingChen JizhongLi Chunlin (alias: Li Jun)Tian HongweiTian XiaolongZhang JiuhuiShi RongxianYao YulianTang LifeiZhou YanShi FengxiangZao GuiqinPang ShuxianMr. Yu's wifeMr. JiangA woman known as the fourth sisterMeng LichunShi FenglanWu YingqiuLiu WenboMr. Qu (a non-practitioner)

Shuangcheng District (6):Gu GuoqinLi ShuangfengPei TingjiuYin ShouquanLiu QingjieLi Shaozhi

Nangang County (3): Zhao Xiuzhi, Pan Yanhua, and Li YiPingfang District (2): Song Shuqing and Song ShuqinDali District (6): Li Shufen, Zhan Jie, Wang Jie, and three other practitionersAcheng District (1): Liu ZhiminBin County (1): Qu GuizhenBayan County (2): Wu Guizhi and Fan ShufenHarbin City (2): Li Shaozhi and Sun Xiumin

List of Harassed Practitioners

Below is a list of over 228 practitioners who were harassed during the month of September. There are actually more practitioners who were harassed, but details are unavailable.

Yilan County (6):Guo ChunhuiGuo JingfenZhang GuodongDu JingZhao GuiqinChen Jiyuan

Shuangcheng District (over 140):Xu YanCheng ShaojuanSun GuijieXiao YalinSun ZhanyunYu FenglinSun ZhenjieXu QingkunLi YumeiZhang GuifenLiu QingyiLan FengrongLiu QingyingLiu QingxiangYu JunjiePeng QiWu ZelanYan DekunYan JinhaiGao XiangboLiu ShujieZhang YanboGao HuanLi HuichengFu CaixiaHe XiuzhiChen XiuhuaZhao YuhuaYan HongZhao HaijunZhao YuwenWang GuijuLi CaifenXu FengjuanZhao HairongLu BaochenZhang XueminWu ShuchunZhang FengyiFan YushengTian HuaFang CaiyanAi GuilanMa WenruiKou FangqiFamilies from Han Yuxia and husbandLiu FangjiKou Fangyu and husbandCao ZhongqinWang YutianHong YouxiangLi XiaXu ShufangQiao ChenghuaLi MilingLi MingdeLi YanjieHou ShanHou Shan's son-in-lawLiu YingGao XunShi HongyanMa XiliangZhang ZhaoxinLiu YuhuaWang ShirongLiu JianweiLiu YajieWang ShurenFu JingwuNan Yaqin and husbandWang DongliFu YuzhiYan HuaMa JingboLiu YankunYan ShujieDong YannianChen GuofaShi YuquanZhang JingYang ShulanYang RenfengGuan HongjunYuan ZhongqinHe ZhigangZhang ChengqinLiu ZuoshanMa ChunhongZhang YutianSun XiuchunLi XiujuZhang LijunZhuang RuiXin YanpingWang YumeiYou JingcaiLi ShuyuanLi HancaiWang XiuqingZhao YufangGuo LixinHan XiaomeiChen YanhaiWang XiuzhenWang YaliAn JinxingHan ZhimingHe JingweiLiu QunChen XianyuanZhang JinghaiLao YangtouMeng QingzhiDai XiuzhenZhang BaomanNa ErheCao ZhanyouE ShuxiaZhang BaihuaE ShuxiaCui LimeiMr. Bai's wifeZhan CaoyouMa ZhenquanWu WenliGuan ShouchangZhao QingzhengQiu ZhanglingSun ZhixueFang YanhuaLiang XifaHei FengzhuMa ZhanlouMa ZhanchengHe ZhifanYan ChunhuaXu Lirong

Nangang District (4):Lin XuejunAn elderly manWei Liangyue, husband of Du YongjingHan Qingbo

Nanfang District (14):Qi AizhiYue Yanzhi's husbandLiu Bobin and childPractitioner LuPractitioner DaiPractitioner GuanPractitioner ZhaoPractitioner ZhangPractitioner RenPractitioner YueWang XiuzhenPractitioner JinGuo Yanhong

Pingfang District (11):Che WenshuiHe XujingMiao YufenYu AnranChen QiuhuanLi XiaoxiaZhang GuofanLiang GuiyunSun ZhenhongCai LirongZhang Daoxiang

Shangzhi City (12):Lu YingSun ShuhuaXue MinghuiYue ShulanChe ZhongzhenLi XiuqingMeng QingminHan XitingShao Mingli and husband, Jiang YuehuaLou YumeiSu Yan

Wuchang City (over 4):
Gao Hongxia
Tang ShuxianRen Xiumei and familyGuan Soufen

Acheng City (20):Li AiqinYan ShuhuaZhang chengZhao FengyingZhang ZhimingMa YushiQi BaoyanCheng BaoyingTang LaosanYang MinghuaNiu GuixiaZhang XueyanJiang YufenZhang LixinLi GuoliangHuang TieboXiao SujieLi XueqinHan GuilanSun Xiaohui

Bin County (7):Li ShurongYang XiuqinNi Shanpeng's sonsSong JiuxiangWang Dongzhe and neighbor

Mulan District (over 10):Yin Xiaoxia and husband, and over ten practitioners