(Minghui.org) Twelve residents in Yinchuan City, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, were harassed in September 2020 for their faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.

Officials from local Political and Legal Affairs Committee (an extra-judiciary agency tasked with persecuting Falun Gong), police officers, and community workers went to the practitioners’ homes and ordered them to sign prepared statements to renounce their faith. Most practitioners refused to comply. Some of their family members were also harassed and threatened.

Ms. Shen Dongmei was arrested at home around 9 p.m. on September 2 and held at the Funingjie Police Station. She refused to sign the renouncing statement, despite being intimidated. She was released on September 4.

Mr. Yan Yinlu was beaten and pushed to the ground when he refused to sign the statement. The officers held his hand and pressed his fingerprint on it as his signature.

Other practitioners who were harassed include: Song Jing, Chen Yulan, Chen Xueying, Qin Yongshun, Li Peihua, Zhang Yinxia, Yang Guizhi, Chen Hua, Li Yiping, and Guo Wenyan.