(Minghui.org) Today's news from China includes incidents of persecution that took place in 4 cities or counties in 4 provinces, where at least 5 practitioners were recently persecuted for their belief.

1. [Jieyang City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Zhu Meiling Arrested
2. [Xinyang City, Henan Province] Ms. Zhang Qiuju Abused by Police
3. [Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province] Mr. Hu Yuanqin and Ms. Zhu Defeng Detained
4. [Weihai City, Shandong Province] Ms. Zou Huaxiang Arrested

1. [Jieyang City, Guangdong Province] Ms. Zhu Meiling Arrested

Ms. Zhu Meiling in Huilai County was born in 1962. On the evening of November 28, 2022, she was reported to the police by a villager while she distributed Falun Gong materials. She was arrested by officers from the Huahu Town Police Station. On January 6, 2023, she was officially placed under arrest. She is being held in the Huilai County Detention Center.

2. [Xinyang City, Henan Province] Ms. Zhang Qiuju Abused by Police

On January 3 and 4, 2023, Director Shen and Director Ma of the Gongqu Road Police Station called Ms. Zhang Qiuju and told her to come to the police station.

On January 9, Ms. Zhang went to the police station to see directors Shen and Ma. The officers pushed her into a police car. After driving for about 15 minutes, they arrived at the former police department building. The officers forcibly pulled Ms. Zhang into a room to collect biometrics from her. They restrained her, pulled her legs and arms to collect her fingerprints and other biometrics. Ms. Zhang refused to cooperate. They gave up after two hours. By then Ms. Zhang’s legs, arms, and fingers were injured and she could hardly bear the pain. She was finally released.

3. [Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province] Mr. Hu Yuanqin and Ms. Zhu Defeng Detained

Mr. Hu Yuanqin and Ms. Zhu Defeng were arrested by officers from the Jiangning District Police Department, the 610 Office, and the Dongshan Police Station on January 4, 2023, for distributing Falun Gong materials. The two practitioners’ homes were ransacked. They were placed in criminal detention.

Ms. Zhu was held in the Nanjing City Detention Center, and Mr. Hu was held in the Jiangning District Detention Center.

4. [Weihai City, Shandong Province] Ms. Zou Huaxiang Arrested

Ms. Zou Huaxiang from the Huancui District went to the Wenquan Grand Market to deliver calendars which had information about Falun Gong on the morning of November 24, 2022. As soon as she arrived at the market, two plainclothes officers arrested her and took her to the Wenquan Police Station. They searched her body and bag, and took her keys and other items that were in her bag. Two or three assistant police tried to collect her blood sample by force. Ms. Zou refused to cooperate. Three or four other officers, headed by Qin Xiaodong from the Domestic Security Division of Huancui District Police Department, handcuffed Ms. Zou’s hands behind her back.

They then locked her in an iron chair in a dark room in order to extract a confession. She was held there from around 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. before she was allowed to go home.

The officers took Ms.Zhou’s key, and ransacked her home in the afternoon without any paperwork. Her family members were not present (by law, at least one family member is required to be there). They confiscated her personal belongings, including photos of the founder of Falun Gong, two Falun images, 40 to 50 Falun Gong books, six or seven printers (some of which were not functioning), three computers (some of which were not functioning), 100 desk calendars, and over 20,000 yuan in cash. They ransacked her entire home, leaving it in shambles.

Ms. Zou asked them to return her 10,000 yuan. When she returned home, she found that the amount she was given was 3,000 yuan short. Two or three days later, she went to the police station to demand the return of her Falun Gong books and house keys. The officers returned the keys to her, and a receipt of 11,000 yuan deposit for her release on bail, on which they signed her name on her behalf. They refused to acknowledge that the money they gave back to her on November 24 was short by 3,000 yuan.