(Minghui.org) On February 25, 2012, between 6 and 7 a.m., about 12 to 30 police officers broke into Falun Gong practitioners' homes in the districts of Tangshan City, including Downtown, Fengrun, Kaiping, and Fengnan. They seized practitioners and confiscated many items, from computers and printers to cash and other personal belongings. In some instances, both husband and wife were taken away together while in other cases, it was a family of three. The police took the practitioners' belongings away in truckloads.

At present, over 12 practitioners are still illegally detained at various detention centers. It is known that on February 21, under the pretext of “safeguarding” the Two Sessions (the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference), Liu Jianguo, secretary of the Tangshan City Political and Legal Committee and also head of the 610 Office, drafted a list of practitioners to arrest.

Kaiping District Police Seized Nine People

The Kaiping Police Department, the Domestic Security Division, and Kaiping Police Station participated in arresting nine practitioners and their family members on February 25. Five of them are still in the Tangshan No. 1 Detention Center.

Mr. Li Wendong was beaten during the arrest, and his house was ransacked. His face was bruised and his wife, who is not a practitioner, was also taken away. Mr. Li is still being held in custody at Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center.

The Kaiping Police Department, the Domestic Security Division, and the Liyuan Town Police Station dispatched 12 officers, who broke into Mr. Gao Zhaochen's home and took Falun Gong brochures. Mr. Gao was taken back to the police department and is now in custody in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center.

Mr. Gao Zhaochen is 53 years old and owns a renovation business. On February 25 at around 6 a.m., someone knocked on his door and tried to get him to come out of his house. When he did not fall for the trick, the person began to kick the door, saying, “Open the door right now! We have followed you for two weeks and have called the fire department. If you don't open the door, we will climb up with a fire ladder, smash the windows, and disconnect the electric and Internet cables.

After a deadlock that lasted over an hour, Mr. Gao opened the door when the head of Dadaizhuan Village, his hometown, arrived. Head of the Kaiping criminal police team Zhang Zhi and a group of men rushed into the house and ransacked it, taking away a new printer, a small television, a cell phone, a watch, the van used for Mr. Gao's business, and other personal belongings. Someone even videotaped the proceedings.

Mr. Zhang Guochen, who works at Jinggezhuang Mine in the Kaiping District, was arrested and is currently in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center. In the afternoon, his house was ransacked. Mr. Yue Changcun, who works at the same mine, was seized by police from the Domestic Security Division and is currently being detained in the same place.

Mr. Yang Zheng from the Fengnan District was also arrested. Three computers—two desktop and a laptop—as well as a printer were stolen during a ransacking of his home. He is now in custody in the Tangshan City No 1 Detention Center. Mr. Yang is 36 years old and lives in Daodifu Village in the Fengnan District. He was previously sentenced to two years of forced labor in July 2008 and imprisoned in Shijiazhuang Forced Labor Camp.

Mr. Liu Laidong and his wife as well as Mr. Liu Wei were arrested. All three are from Qianjiaying in the Fengnan District. They were taken to three different police stations for interrogation. They have now been released.

Contact information for those responsible for these acts of persecution:
Dong Wei, deputy head of the Kaiping District 610 Office
Kaiping District Police Department: +86-315-3363215, +86-315-3363215
Zhao Chunsheng, head of the Domestic Security Division: +86-13832988290

Li Yunpeng and His Wife, Lu Jianxin, Arrested and Robbed

On February 25, 2012, Mr. Li Yunpeng, 53, and his wife, Ms. Lu Jianxin, 49, from Tangshan City were secretly arrested and robbed by police. At present, the couple is still in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center.

Mr. Li Yunpeng is an engineer at a Tangshan passenger railway company. Ms. Lu Jianxin is an accountant at Hebei Lianhe University.

At around 6 a.m. on February 25, the couple were picked up by 12 officers from the Domestic Security Division and Qiaotun Police Station. Their personal belongings were taken from their home, including two computers, two printers, and a DVD burner. The couple are being held in custody in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center.

Ms. Lu Jianxin's parents are in their 80s. Her mother was traumatized by the incident and became bedridden. The couple's daughter is attending school away from home and now there is no one to take care of Ms. Lu's elderly parents.

Perpetrators:

Liu Jianguo, Tangshan City Political and Legal Committee head: +86-13831518989
Ma Zhendi, Tangshan Domestic Security Division: +86-13832985616; Gao Huixiang: +86-18832988508
Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center:

Sun Yansong, head: +86-315-2532517, +86-13832980206

Bian Lichao, Teacher at a Secondary School in Kailuan, and His Wife Detained

Forty-eight-year-old Mr. Bian Lichao is a teacher at the No. 10 Secondary School in Tangshan City. His wife, Zhou Xiuzhi, is a teacher at the No. 11 Secondary School. On the morning of February 25, Mr. Bian went to work and was arrested by officers from the Lunan District Police Department, domestic security division, and the local police station, who had waited in ambush outside his house.

The police took his house key and broke into his home. They took his computer; printer; Shen Yun Performing Arts DVD; 50,000 yuan in cash that the couple had saved up to buy a house; and a bank deposit book, as well as personal belongings stored in the basement. His wife, who is not a practitioner, was also arrested. She was detained for 10 days and interrogated three times. As a result of the persecution, she lost a shocking amount of weight and now looks very different.

In 2004, Mr. Bian was seized and taken to Tangshan Detention Center for telling people the facts about Falun Gong.

Main perpetrator:

Wang Li, head of the Lunan District domestic security division

Tangshan Business Proprietor Xu Suqin Arrested

Fifty-seven-year-old Ms. Xu Suqin, who has her own business, began to practice Falun Gong in 1996. On February 25, 2012, she and her family were taken away by the Lunan District criminal police. At present, she is in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center.

At 7:50 p.m. that day, 10 men and a woman from the Lunan criminal police squad forced their way into Ms. Xu's house. They turned over boxes and cupboards, taking her desktop computer, a printer, a photocopier, Falun Gong books, the Minghui Weekly publication, and her husband Mr. Zhan Tangsheng's wages of over 1,000 yuan.

At 9:30 p.m., the police took Ms. Xu and their son to the Nuzhizai Police Station. Her husband was taken to the Liutun Police Station, then transferred to the Tangshan City Detention Center. He was released on March 6. Their son, Zhan Yue, was released that night. Ms. Xu is still in the Tangshan City No. 1 Detention Center.