(Clearwisdom.net) I am a 71-year-old retired official from the Shibao Town government and live in Gulin County, Sichuan Province. I started to practice Falun Gong to become healthy. All of my illnesses disappeared as a result of the practice, and I was also able to give up smoking, which I had indulged in for more than 40 years.
The persecution of Falun Gong began soon after I began practicing. My wife, also a practitioner, and I were arrested and detained many times for appealing for justice for Falun Gong. My home was also ransacked repeatedly by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.
My family and I have become homeless and destitute due to the persecution. The CCP has withdrawn part of my pension, and officials continue to look for my family and me with the intent of arresting us again.
Arrested for Clarifying the Facts to Local Authorities
In June or July 2000, about 70 practitioners from Gulin County gathered at the Gulin Sport Plaza to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to government officials and to request that they discontinue propaganda slandering Falun Gong and restore our peaceful practice environment. However, all of us were illegally arrested and taken to the police station. Officers from the Gulin County 610 Office interrogated us on an individual basis. Some practitioners were released the next day, but I was detained for 37 days.
Home Ransacked after Sending a Truth-Clarification Letter to Officials
About 70 practitioners from my area sent letters to the CCP officials to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. We used our real names and addresses in this correspondence. Zeng Shouyi, chief of the Shibao Police Department, came to ransack my home after receiving my letter. He confiscated my Falun Gong books and materials, as well as a valuable sword that belonged to my family.
Forced to Attend Brainwashing Sessions Three Times
In January 2001, Gulin County officials and Public Security Bureau required practitioners to attend brainwashing sessions that slandered Falun Gong. Ma Fei from Shibao Town government was one of people that slandered Falun Gong during the sessions. Because practitioners consistently insisted on their belief in Falun Gong and refused to write guarantee statements to give up the practice, the officials stopped the sessions after one month.
Two days later, Fu Jie from the Gulin Police Department, Hu Dianbo from the Shibao Police Department, and other policemen took me to the Gulin Detention Center and detained me for 118 days.
I was also forced to attend brainwashing sessions in Jianzhu Forstry Farm, Gulin County, twice more within the same year, for a total period of about two months.
Family Broken Apart as a Result of the Persecution
My wife was illegally detained at the Gulin Detention Center in 2000. She was tortured by Xiong Jun, Chen Hanzhao, Lu Changhong, and other officers, and lost a lot of weight and suffered severe injuries to her ears as a result. Her ears oozed pus for more than six years after that.
In December 2000 and January 2001, my wife went to Beijing to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. On one occasion, she was arrested, and officers confiscated clothes, cash, and daily necessities from her bag. Because she refused to disclose her name and address, the policemen assaulted her with electric batons, which made her eyes, ears, nose, and mouth bleed. She was then sent to another establishment in Beijing, where I went to look for her. Upon my return, I received a notice from the Shibao Town authorities, delivered by head of the Finance Bureau Xia Jiangkui, stating that the CCP officials decided to withdraw 6,000 yuan from my paycheck to retrieve the money that I had used to travel to Beijing to find my wife.
Shortly afterward, my wife and I were detained in the Gulin Detention Center. Our two sons and my elderly parents, who relied on our income, did not have any money coming in during that time. My sons went to the Gulin Detention Center many times asking to see us, but officials turned them down .
My wife was then sentenced to four years in the Jianyang Women's Prison. She endured severe torture because she did not give up her belief, including injuries to her hands, feet, head, mouth, ears, and back. Her arms were also broken. Guards Zhou Qiang, Xiong Jun, Chen Hanzhao, and Yu Zhifang were among the officials that participated in the torture.
Persecution Suffered in Guangyuan Prison, Sichuan Province
In October 2003, I went to attend a Falun Gong experience-sharing conference with practitioners in Fenshui Village, Dacun Town, Gulin County. While I was there, I was arrested by Chen Hanzhao and Fu Jie from the 610 Office, labeled as the organizer of the conference, and charged with disrupting the law. I was taken to the Gulin Detention Center, sentenced to three and a half years in prison, and sent to the Guangyuan Prison by Liu Zongtang.
My father passed away during that time. When my family asked the prison officials to let me attend his funeral, they refused.
In the prison, I was forced to watch video programs and read books defaming Falun Dafa. Guards Li Shengquan, He Wende, and Chief Zhan ordered other inmates to "transform" me. I was forced to sit on a plastic stool that was five inches tall for over 10 days. I had to keep my back and head upright and my hands on the legs and not move. When I did not comply with these requirements, I was beaten. I was also forced to stand for many days with my head up and without moving my hands or feet. Whenever I moved, I was punched and kicked.
About 20 or 30 prisoners in each cell monitored practitioners at all times. The guards directed the inmates to punch and kick practitioners, stuff their mouths, and hold them down on the ground. They promised to reduce the prison terms of those who followed their orders and threatened to punish all prisoners in the cell if a practitioner did not cooperate or was not "transformed."
Becoming Homeless and Destitute
Between 2001 and 2003, the CCP officials, including Zeng Yi, Lei Qingmin, Hu Dianbo, and Shao Xinghui from the Shibao Police Department; Yang Lin from the Comprehensive Administration Office; Yang Kang from the Armed Department; Fu Jie from the Gulin County 610 Office; Tang Xinglong; Ma Fei; and others, ransacked my home many times without providing any legal paperwork for their actions. They confiscated many Falun Gong books and materials, silver and jade items, copper coins, and other personal property. Lei Qingmin also confiscated my and my wife's identification cards, which were never returned.
When I stayed at a relative's home, officers Chen Zhenglong, Shao Guanghui, and Wu Zhujun also found me there and confiscated my copy of Zhuan Falun.
On February 15, 2009, Zhou Qiang from the Gulin County 610 Office, the Party secretary of Dongxin Township, officers from the Erlang Town Police Station, and Peng Song, Lai Qian, Wang Jie, Zhang Xudong, and Xu Fuping from the Dongxin Police Station ransacked an office in Dongxin Township, Gulin County, that was used by practitioners to produce Falun Gong materials. Officers confiscated Falun Gong books and materials, computers, printers, and other items, and arrested 15 practitioners. Some were released the next day, but six were sent to the Gulin Detention Center.
My wife, my oldest son, and I became homeless and destitute in order to avoid being arrested. The authorities withdrew part of my pension, which my family needs to survive, and police officers continue to search for us.