Three Practitioners Arrested, on Hunger Strike, after Standing Up for Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners Ms. Hu Rimei, Ms. Lang Shuying, and Ms. Yang Jinlan, from Hebei Province, were illegally arrested on August 24, 2015, for going to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong.

They are all detained at the Changli County Detention Center and have been on hunger strikes since to protest the persecution. Their protest has fallen on deaf ears and the three women are now emaciated.

Before going to Beijing, the three practitioners went to the Changli County Appeals Office in late August 2015 and filed compensation claims for economic losses due to the persecution they have experienced after the Chinese Communist Party began persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999. However, the director of the local appeals office ignored their motions and instead ordered police officers to abuse them. Two officers sprayed unknown substances on Ms. Lang's and Ms. Hu's faces, and as a result, red spots erupted all over their faces and necks.

Since the local office refused to accept their appeals, the three practitioners went to Beijing to appeal to the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on August 24, in an attempt to claim compensation for their losses incurred during the process of suing Jiang Zemin. No one received them.

Next, they went to the State Council Appeals Office. As they waited to submit their appeals, they were monitored by officers posted in Beijing from the Qinhuangdao City Domestic Security Division.

They were soon arrested and taken back to Changli County by officers from several Changli County police stations on the evening of August 24. Ms. Hu was detained at the Anshan Police Station, Ms. Lang at the Ruhe Police Station, and Ms. Yang at the Matuodian Police Station. Each was detained for a full day. They were also ordered to write guarantee statements promising not to appeal, to which they all refused.

Ms. Hu escaped from the Anshan Police Station and went to her eldest sister’s home the next day. Officers re-arrested her and took her back to the police station.

After Ms. Hu’s second eldest sister requested her release, she was summarily held for approximately three hours while police ransacked her home. She was then released.

Ms. Hu was taken to the Changli County Detention Center on August 25, and her second eldest sister went to see her on August 26. Officers said that Ms. Hu would be detained for 15 days.

Ms. Lang escaped from the Ruhe Police Station on the morning of August 25. However, after officers found her, they beat her in the street, arrested her, and took her back to the police station.

Parties involved in persecuting the three practitioners:
Zhang Fenglong (张凤龙), director of the Changli County Police Department: [phone], [phone], [phone]
Wang Zhiqiang (王志强), director of the Anshan Police Station: [phone], [phone], [phone]
Qian Haitao (钱海涛), director of the Matuodian Police Station: [phone], [phone], [phone]
Cao Guangming (曹光明), director of the Ruhe Police Station: [phone], [phone], [phone]