Name: Wu Xiujie (吴秀杰)
Gender: Female
Age: In her 50s
Address: Jiamusi City in Heilongjiang Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: July 29, 2008
Most Recent Place of Detention: Jiamusi Detention Center (佳木斯看守所)
City: Jiamusi
Province: Heilongjiang
Persecution Suffered: Detention, home ransacked, extortion, forced labor
(Clearwisdom.net) I am a Falun Gong practitioner from Jiamusi City who has practiced Falun Gong since 1995. I have encountered the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) cruel persecution since 1999, and endured incidents that are worrisome to my family and friends.
Official Zhang Zhigang and his chief, surnamed Gao (we called him Xiao Gao), from the Jianguolu Police Station invaded my home for a search on September 28, 2000. They confiscated my books, Falun Gong exercise tapes, and other materials. The next day, police officer Zhang Zhigang and deputy head Xu Yanjing came again, ordering me to give up cultivation and provide a list of names of other practitioners. They verbally abused me and attempted to force me to sign a statement to give up practicing Falun Gong, but I did not cooperate. This resulted in my arrest and incarceration at the Jiamusi Detention Center. I was released five days later, after my husband spent some money. He actually paid 610 Office agents 6,000 yuan.
After that, officials from the Jianguolu Police Station frequently harassed my family. They came day and night and even knocked on our door in the middle of the night so that our neighbors were disturbed. My husband begged me to give up practicing. He lived in fear and developed many illnesses, such as high blood pressure and a heart problem.
A few years earlier, one day in 2001 at about 4:00 a.m., a rapid pounding on the door awakened me from sleep. Not wanting to disturb my neighbors I opened the door, and many police officers rushed in. They were from either the Dongfeng Police Department or the Jianguolu Police Station. They searched my home, including my daughter's bedroom and the bathroom. I questioned their behavior. They said someone had escaped from a forced labor camp and they suspected that person might be hiding in my home. However, they did not find anything and left empty-handed.
Whenever there was a sensitive day, such as July 20, or the October 1st holiday, police officials would come to my home or my workplace to harass me.
On May 23, 2008, prior to the 2008 Olympics, police officers in two groups approached my home and my workplace at the same time in order to arrest me. Protected by upper-management leaders and my co-workers I successfully escaped, but the police did break into my home and walked away with my computer, VCD player, 400 yuan in cash, Falun Gong books, and other materials. They then arranged for spies to stay at my home. My brother, Wu Shuangli, was captured when he paid me a visit. They threatened him and questioned him, asking if he practiced Falun Gong. Scared to death, he admitted that he practiced Falun Gong. The police then ransacked his home and arrested him as a "hostage." They declared they would not release him unless they captured me.
My family was deeply disturbed. My brother was released after our family paid the police fifteen thousand yuan. My brother made a living as a tricycle driver, maintaining the lowest living standard. That money was borrowed from relatives and friends.
I decided to leave home to avoid additional persecution. The police frequently disturbed my family, relatives, and friends, including my former classmates and neighbors. Generous, big-hearted practitioners had me stay with them. On July 29, 2008, I left home for more than two months. When I then returned home at about 8:00 a.m, to get more clothes, I was arrested. I only had my underwear on and no shoes. Eight officers forced me into a police vehicle. I was transported to the Jianguolu Police Station and from there to the Jiamusi City Detention Center for 15 days, and then sent to forced labor for another 15 months.
While doing forced labor I had to pack 5,000 pairs of "Sterile Chopsticks" each day. If I could not meet the quota I would be physically and verbally abused. [My left hand is still swollen now and hurts.] At night I had to memorize the prison rules and regulations. My food consisted of three daily portions of soup that were frequently mixed with bugs and dirt. Prison guards forced practitioners to be "reformed." They forced practitioners to sign three prepared statements. Team head Liu Yadong (female), political head Li Xujin (female), and division head Mu Zhenjuan (female) were involved in those activities.
When I was detained, my husband suffered and was hospitalized three times, and my daughter was in pain without her mother at her side.