Under the pretext of the 24th Winter Universiade 2009, the police in Jiamusi City launched another round of arrest of Falun Gong practitioners and their friends.

The Recent Arrest of Falun Gong Practitioners in Jiamusi City

Under the direct command of Heilongjiang Province Police Department, Jiamusi City Police Department and the State Security Bureau illegally arrested fifteen Falun Gong practitioners and their family members in the week following February 8, 2009. To date they have arrested another nine practitioners and their family members. Amongst them are Falun Gong practitioners who are over sixty or seventy years old, as well as family members of practitioners who are not Falun Gong practitioners. Moreover, some practitioners' friends have also been arrested.

In order to determine if the correct person was arrested, all those abducted were forced to curse Falun Gong and Master Li. In order to arrest other practitioners, they used their family members as hostages and overtly extorted cash from the families. Practitioners were taken to a secret place called a "training center," for further persecution and torture. The 610 Office, the police and the security agents all participated in the process, using high-tech cell phone GPS systems to track down and monitor practitioners' cell phones. Some practitioners' homes were also under 24-hour surveillance.

At around noon on February 17, Mr. Luan Diancheng received a call from his mother's cell phone while at work. Someone who called himself Wang said that he was from the works company and that his home had been flooded due to some heating problems. Wang asked Mr. Luan to go home immediately. However, when Mr. Luan asked the phone to be passed to his mother, Wang refused and said, "Your mom is too frightened to answer the phone." After much persuasion, Luan Diancheng did not go home but instead hung up his phone.

Information obtained by sources report that the Police Department had abducted Mr. Luan's mother as a hostage to try to lure Luan. Later, Mr. Luan's mother was released after paying more than 2,000 yuan in extortion money. Later, Mr. Luan's second sister, Luan Guixia, was also abducted by Xiangyang Police Station as a hostage, and released after paying 2,500 yuan. According to sources, the Police Station Chief surnamed Jiang directly participated in the persecution, and the family members were even under threat to get Luan to write a guarantee statement.

On the afternoon of February 17, Ms. Shan Yuqin came to Mr. Liu Xiaobin's rented apartment and saw two cars parked in front of the building. The two cars were filled and in one of the cars, there was a circular device. When she entered the door, a number of hurried knocks on the door followed. Then, around a dozen people jumped in from the window, amongst which were henchmen from Xiangyang Police Station in Jiamusi City. Soon after, Chen Wanyou and a group from the Jiamusi City Police Department also arrived.

Ms. Shan Yuqin was first taken to Songlin Police Station, but Mr. Liu Xiaobin's whereabouts are unknown. According to sources, the cars had been waiting outside Liu Xiaobin's apartment for days. On February 18, Mr. Sun Qinghe called Liu Xiaobin but no one answered. On his way home, he decided to drop by Liu's apartment but was arrested by people who were lying in wait for him.

Mr. Wu and his son, from Beijiaohua New District were also arrested. Even though the father has returned, his son's whereabouts are currently known. Falun Gong practitioner Li Xiurong have been missing since February 19, and has been taken to a detention center.

The Chinese Communist Party regime has been heightening the persecution under the so-called "security concerns" for the 24th Winter Universiade 2009.