(Minghui.org) A couple in Hegang City, Heilongjiang Province were held in detention for more than 40 days for practicing Falun Gong. Their family paid the police a 20,000 yuan bail bond in exchange for their release.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient mind-body discipline centered on the tenets of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. It enjoyed fast growing popularity following its public introduction in May 1992. It was estimated that between 70 to 100 million Chinese had picked up Falun Gong shortly before the communist regime ordered the nationwide campaign to eradicate the practice from China in July 1999.
Since then, millions of practitioners who didn't give up their faith in the face of the persecution have been subjected to arbitrary detention, prison sentences, appalling tortures, and even the involuntary extraction of their organs while alive.
Mr. Peng Yanfeng and his wife Ms. Feng Junqing were arrested by a group of plainclothes officers who broke into their home on February 14, 2019.
When Mr. Peng demanded to see their IDs, one officer flashed his ID in front of Mr. Peng and quickly put it back, without allowing him a careful look at it.
A few more officers wearing police uniforms showed up moments later. They pushed Mr. Peng to the ground and carried him onto the police car.
One officer videotaped Mr. Peng's arrest. When Mr. Peng began to videotape the incident with his own cellphone, the officer took it away.
Meanwhile, the police ransacked the couple's home and confiscated their Falun Gong-related materials.
Two hours later, the police took the couple to Guangming Police Station and held them in separate interrogation rooms. Mr. Peng was locked in a metal cage, where he remained overnight. Ms. Feng was cuffed to a chair and also left overnight.
After being held at the police station for more than 30 hours, the couple was sent to Hegang City Lockup where they were held for 15 days before being transferred to the Hegang City Detention Center. They were denied family visits at both facilities.
The police brought Mr. Peng back to the police station on March 29, 2019 for another round of interrogation. They then said they'd release him and his wife on bail, and demanded that he sign the document that charged him with “disturbing social order with a cult organization.” He refused to comply, and the police extorted 20,000 yuan from his family before releasing him and his wife.
