Sichuan Resident Arrested for Her Faith, Found Tracking Device on Her Tricycle

(Minghui.org) A Deyang City, Sichuan Province resident was arrested at home on July 19, 2022 for her faith in Falun Gong. Although the police released Ms. Jian Yicong after she was found to have tuberculosis, they threatened to arrest her entire family when she refused to comply with a subsequent physical examination. She also found a tracking device on her tricycle days later, which she suspected had been installed by the police months ago.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

A group of officers broke into Ms. Jian’s home at 10 a.m. on July 19 while she was doing housework. An officer handcuffed her and confiscated her media player that was playing a podcast about Falun Gong.

They claimed that she was reported for talking to a student and giving out a flash-drive with information about Falun Gong, although Ms. Jian said she never did so. They dragged her to her front yard and showed her a search warrant. When she questioned why the warrant didn’t have the police chief’s signature, the police ignored her. They videotaped her home and searched around. Her neighbors heard the commotion and came over to check what was going on, only to be driven away by the police.

During the raid, the village secretary also showed up. Ms. Jian asked for help from her, but she responded, “I’ve given you opportunities. I’m a member of the Chinese Communist Party.” 

Ms. Jian called her husband and told him about the raid. He rushed back home to find the front door locked. He opened the door and saw six plainclothes officers and four village officials inside. When he questioned them about what they were up to, the police threatened to arrest him as well. 

The police searched every room at their home on both floors, including inside their closet and fridge. Ms. Jian’s Falun Gong books, informational materials, two laptops, a printer, copy paper, cartridge, and tablet were confiscated. 

By the time she was brought in to the Lushanlu Police Station, it was already noon. The police next took Ms. Jian to the hospital for a physical checkup. After that, they took her back to the police station for interrogation. They videotaped her during the session. 

Ms. Jian argued that no law has ever criminalized Falun Gong in China and that the Chinese publication bureau has long lifted the ban on Falun Gong books, in 2011. An officer laughed at her, “I feel so sorry for you. You just finished serving a term, and now you are facing another one.”

As Ms. Jian refused to answer the police’s questions, an officer began to fabricate a deposition, including that she had printed over 100 Falun Gong flyers at home.

Around midnight, the police took Ms. Jian home, after the doctor found she had a shadow in her chest X-ray and suspected it to be tuberculosis. The police ordered Ms. Jian’s husband to sign her deposition. He refused, saying that the police had deceived him into signing her case document before. Although they promised that she would be released, they kept her in custody and sentenced her to several years.

The police came back the next day to take Ms. Jian to the hospital for another checkup. She refused to provide a saliva sample as requested. The police became infuriated and threatened to impound her electric tricycle, demolish her house and arrest her daughter and husband.

A few days later, Ms. Jian’s electric tricycle suddenly stopped charging. When she sent it in for repair, the technician found a GPS-enabled camera near the battery. She then remembered that after she gave rides to a few practitioners not long ago, some of them were arrested. One of the practitioners was Ms. Zhang Shufeng, who was arrested on June 28, 2022.