(Minghui.org) Since the Chinese communist regime started persecuting Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, countless practitioners have been subjected to harassment, home raids, arrests, detention, or even forced organ harvesting. In the face of the persecution, some practitioners’ family members condemned the police and stood to protect their loved ones’ constitutional right to freedom of belief.
Below are five of these stories.
“You’re Like Bandits”
A practitioner went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in 2002 and was harassed constantly afterwards. When it was nearing the Chinese New Year, the chief of the local Domestic Security Office and two police officers went to her office and attempted to arrest her. She managed to escape.
A few days later, the deputy chief of the Domestic Security Office called the practitioner’s manager and asked him to turn her in to the police department. The manager refused to comply.
The police refused to give up and went to ransack her home on March 22 that year. The practitioner said, “You are supposed to be the people’s police, but you came to arrest good people instead of bad people. This is really ridiculous!”
One officer asked, “Did you put up the couplet outside your door?”
The practitioner’s husband shot back, “There are couplets all over the streets. Did she put them up too?”
The police were speechless and left.
Not long after, the police chief brought some officers to harass the practitioner. Upon entering the house, he said, “Your attitude wasn’t good the previous time, and you have gone to Beijing to appeal. We must confiscate some materials [as evidence against you] this time.”
As they started ransacking the home, the practitioner’s husband said, “You’re like bandits.”
Hearing this, the officers became dejected. They left and never came to harass the practitioner again.
“Who Dares to Come Again?”
One day in 2001, a practitioner was deceived into going to the township government office by the village committee. Although she was told that she could return home in two hours, she was locked up as soon as she arrived.
She and another practitioner managed to escape later and they went to Beijing to appeal. After returning home, the CCP officials harassed her a few times and her husband questioned them, “What did she do? Are you not letting us live a normal life? Who dares to come again and I will break his legs!”
Another time, the practitioner was reported and arrested for telling people about Falun Gong at a plaza. Her husband went to the police station and gave the person who reported her a dressing down before taking her home. The police never harassed them again.
“Will She Sign for You?”
In 2021, several CCP officials went to the home of a practitioner’s son as they wanted the practitioner to sign on statements renouncing her faith in Falun Gong. Her son said, “You detained an elderly woman for half a month and she still refused to sign the documents. You’re asking me to persuade her, but will she sign?”
The practitioner, who had been released, questioned the authorities, “What crime did I commit? What bad deeds did I do?”
The officials said, “You didn’t do anything. We just want you to sign the document. Looks like you wouldn’t be doing so.”
The practitioner replied, “I’m already 80 years old. Look how healthy I am. I don’t have to take medicine or stay in the hospital. I’ve saved a lot of medical expenses and my children don’t have to worry about me. What do you want me to sign?”
When the officials wanted to leave, the practitioner said, “Don’t leave yet. I haven’t told you about Falun Gong.”
“That’s fine. We know everything. We won’t come again,” they replied.
“What Do You Want to Transform Her Into?”
Last winter, the CCP officials held a brainwashing session in an attempt to transform local practitioners. They went to a practitioner’s home and harassed her. Her husband said to the officials, “My wife’s age is quite advanced. She hasn’t taken any medicine since practicing Falun Gong, and has never fallen sick. Her temper also improved. What do you want to transform her into?”
The officials relented and said they wouldn’t take her to the brainwashing session.
Before leaving, the officials pointed to the Falun Gong couplet at their door and said, “This must be taken down.”
The husband replied, “What’s wrong with our couplet? The message on it says Falun Gong teaches people to be good, and we wish people a good future.”
Speechless, the officials left.
“Don’t Come to My House to Harass Me Again”
The police broke into a practitioner’s home and arrested her when her husband and son were not at home. After finding out she'd been taken to a brainwashing center, her son kept calling the chief of the police station, demanding her release. The police had no choice but to take her home and then tried to give her a box of instant noodles and milk powder. When she refused to take them, they said, “We can’t finish our work and report to our superiors if you don't.”
Her daughter-in-law picked up the noodles and milk powder and threw them into the police car, saying, “We don’t want your stuff. Don’t come back and harass us again!”
“This Is Really Outrageous!”
Another practitioner has been taking care of her grandchild out of town. About two or three days after she returned home, the police harassed her and ransacked her house.
Her husband went to the township government office and told the officials, “She just came back and you came to harass her and ransacked the house. Who in these days still participates in the persecution? The previous cadre just turned a blind eye to the persecution policy. You’ve just been appointed, why do you have to follow the persecution so closely? This is really outrageous!”
This practitioner, who had started practicing Falun Gong not long ago, has a nephew working at the township government. He said to her one day, “You look so young and fit now. The practice is good, so stay home to practice and don’t go out and talk to others. They had held a brainwashing session to transform some practitioners not long ago. Don’t go out again, or you will be arrested.”
The practitioner asked her nephew, “I heard that the officials went to practitioners’ homes and even gave them some gifts [in order to persuade them to renounce their faith].”
The nephew replied, “That’s true. But none of the practitioners accepted the gifts or agreed to go to the brainwashing center.”
He added that the town government officials have been saying privately, “This isn’t something we can handle. Let’s stay out of it.”
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