(Minghui.org) Mr. Chen Jihai, 66, is among the two dozen Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin City, Jilin Province arrested for their faith on July 19, 2019. While most of the practitioners have been released, Mr. Chen is still held in custody and facing further prosecution.
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 from Erdaoxiang Police Station broke into Mr. Chen's apartment around 2:00 a.m. on July 19. The police confiscated his Falun Gong books and a satellite dish to receive non-censored, overseas media programs.
His wife, who doesn't practice Falun Gong, was also brought to the police station and interrogated for a few hours.
Mr. Chen was later sent to a local detention center and has been held there since. Other practitioners who are also detained include Mr. Song Deman, Mr. Liu Changyou and Ms. Tang Lixiang.
According to Mr. Liu's lawyer who visited him on September 27, the police targeted Mr. Liu, Mr. Chen and Mr. Song after noticing them distributing informational materials about Falun Gong through a surveillance camera.
Because of practicing Falun Gong, Mr. Chen has been repeatedly harassed, arrested, and detained for the past 20 years.
He was arrested on April 27, 2010, for introducing Falun Gong to a neighbor who lost her eyesight because of complications from surgery to remove a tumor. The police attempted to send him to the local labor camp, but he was denied admission due to poor health.
Liu Hongyan, the head of Erdaoxiang Police Station, once tied him in a metal chair with his hands and feet cuffed. He verbally abused Mr. Chen, slapped him in the face and kicked him in the chest, in order to force him to renounce Falun Gong.
Related reports:
Jilin City, Jilin Province: At Least 24 Falun Gong Practitioners and Two Spouses Arrested in One Day
The Relentless Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioner Chen Jihai in Jilin City
Practitioner Chen Jihai Arrested for Helping a Neighbor Cure Her Eye Disease
Mr. Chen Jihai Persecuted at the Erdao Township Police Station in Jilin City, Jilin Province
