(Minghui.org) A total of 16 residents from Linquan County, Anhui Province are confirmed to have been arrested and detained for various lengths of time since March 2015.
Zhang Lei, deputy head of the Linquan County Domestic Security Office, is behind the arrests. After taking office in 2014, he has been ordering his officers to harass and arrest local practitioners.
Ms. Zhuang Liyun, an English teacher, was arrested for talking about Falun Gong in class shortly before the 2016 Chinese New Year. She is being held at the Fuyang City Detention Center at the time of writing.
Several officers from Beiguan Police Station visited Yuan Yongmin's home multiple times on January 7, 2016. Upon learning that he was doing business in Beijing, the police called him and demanded that he return immediately, or else his family would be implicated. Mr. Yuan came back the next day and was soon arrested. He is being held at the Linquan County Lockup.
Starting in May 2015, Linquan residents began to file criminal complaints against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin for launching the persecution of Falun Gong. The local police responded by harassing or arresting these practitioners at home or at work.
The following practitioners have been detained for various lengths of time in the second half of 2015.
Liu Guilan, Li Aiping, Ma Junping, and Wang Qinfang were arrested around June 2015. Zhang Fei tried four times to get the four women admitted to Fuyang City Lockup, but was unable to produce the required arrest and detention paperwork. Instead, Zhang kept Liu, Li and Wang detained at a police station for 10 days and Ma for 15 days.
Li Wei and his wife Liu Guilan, Chen Yonghong and Yan Qingli were arrested on October 24, 2015. The first three practitioners were each detained for 10 days, while Yan was released later that day after a medical checkup revealed she had high blood pressure.
Li Ziyu, Wang Delan, and Zhang Suyun were arrested on October 25.
Li Hongfei was arrested on November 18.
Wang Chenfang was arrested on December 7.
Ji Jie, a middle school teacher, was arrested in March 2015. He was brutally tortured while in detention. As a result, he became incontinent and critically ill.