The Ministry of Public Security of the People's Republic of China on July 29 issued a wanted circular for the arrest of Li Hongzhi, head of the "Falun Dafa Society" and his Falun Gong organization.

The wanted circular says that Li Hongzhi, originally named Li Lai and of Han nationality, was born in Gongzhuling City of Jilin Province on July 7, 1952. Li has a junior high school education and his original home address was: 12 Jing'an Street, Luyuan District, Changchun City, Jilin Province. He is now residing in the United States. His ID Card number is 220104520707361, his Chinese passport serial number is 140522510, and the number of his visa for reentry into the United States is C001106787.

Li is about 1.78 meters in height, with slanted eyebrows, single-edged eyelids, a little bit fat, and he speaks putonghua (standard Chinese) with a northeast China accent.

Li Hongzhi, head of the illegal "Falun Dafa Society", is suspected of having committed the crime of disturbing public order, the spokesman for the Ministry of Public Security said in Beijing on July 29 in an interview with Xinhua.

He said that the China Central Bureau of the Interpol has also sent an aviso to the Interpol's member states for international cooperation.

The spokesman pointed out that the "Falun Dafa Society " is an unregistered illegal organization which has conducted illegal activities to spread superstitious and fallacious ideas to deceive the public and create disturbance, sabotaging social stability.

He said that the Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on July 22 that the society and the Falun Gong organization under his control are illegal organizations and placed them under ban.

Police investigations have shown that Li Hongzhi set up and made use of the "Falun Dafa Society" and his Falun Gong organization to spread superstitious and fallacious ideas to deceive the public, causing deaths of practitioners, he said.

According to incomplete statistics from 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, up to July 28, 743 persons have died as a result of practicing Falun Gong.

Without applying for permits according to law, the organization has plotted and organized gatherings and demonstrations, and instigated people to disturb public order, he said, adding that these activities have gone against the 290th, 296th and 300th provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, constituting a crime of disturbing public order.

The people's procuratorate has approved the arrest of Li Hongzhi, the spokesman said, adding that, according to the 123rd provision of the Criminal Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Ministry of Public Security has issued a wanted circular to public security departments nationwide for the arrest of Li Hongzhi, and the China Central Bureau of the Interpol has also sent an aviso to Interpol's member states for international cooperation.