(Minghui.org) Ms. Teng Xiuling, 52, of Donggang City in Liaoning Province has been arrested and detained many times since the Chinese Communist Party began the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999.
Ms. Teng, who became disease-free after practicing Falun Gong in October 1997, once lost her ability to speak while being detained for three and a half years in Shenyang City Women's Prison. There, she was also forced to take various medications.
The following is a summary of her experiences, based on her personal account.
I was first arrested at around 6 A.M. on December 22, 2009, by police from Donggang. Shocked and horrified by the arrest, I suffered a seizure and lost my ability to speak. It took over 20 days for me to regain my speech after I was released.
In mid-August 2010, the Dadong police department called my family several times, saying that they wanted me to go to the police department because they wanted to “return my personal items that were confiscated” in 2009.
I knew they were lying and refused to cooperate.
On September 1 the same year, I ran into the director of the women's community who was in charge of persecuting practitioners. When the director saw me, she quickly took out her phone and informed the village security director.
The security director went to my house that afternoon to harass me. I was later sought by the Donggang police department.
A group of police officers broke into my house on March 15, 2011, and took me away. I went into convulsions and was taken to the hospital, where the doctor said that I was in critical condition. Despite this, I was taken to the detention center, but the center refused to accept me due to my medical condition.
The police called my family to come pick me up in the late afternoon. When my sister came to the police department, more than 10 police officers were waiting for her in a room to swear at her and push her around.
“Police officers are hitting people! They arrest good people and cause them to become like this. You are all bandits!” she said as she was pushed into the hallway.
As many people were at the department during that time, they were confused and asked, “There's bandits here?”
The police quickly stopped their actions and released me. It took me many days to recover from the shock after I returned home.
On March 18, 2011, the third day after I was released, the police came to my house and told me, “We have already revoked your wanted status. Just practice at home and we won't arrest you again.”
In actuality, they had already sent my case to the procuratorate and begun to monitor me. The procuratorate then sent my case to the Donggang court.
A man named Yu came to my house on August 3 and told me to come with him to the court to sign a document as part of the formalities. I refused and told him not to persecute practitioners. He didn't say much else and left.
This man came to my house once again on September 5 and asked me to go with him to the courthouse. I refused; my family started to tell him the facts about Falun Gong. He refused to listen and even threatened my family.
“I'm here to tell you that if you don't go, there are many people in the police department, more than 10, 20, 50...,” he said.
Then he left.
On September 6, he came again and asked my family to go with him.
He said to me, “Your case is different from the others. Because you are sick and we need to close this case, I came here alone. If you don't believe me, ask your family to go with me.”
We refused.
The man came to my house on the morning of September 18 and told me to wait at home, as he was going to bring a woman over in the afternoon.
When they came in the afternoon, I learned that they were from the procuratorate.
The woman said, “You need to pay the price for those materials (from 2009 that were confiscated) and your faith.”
Then, they tried to force me to sign a document. I refused, and the pressure then sent me into convulsions again.
They proceeded to force my father to sign on my behalf. As my father was afraid they might persecute me again, he complied. However, my father was unable to see what he was signing, as the woman covered it up.
After they left, I discovered that there were people waiting near my house to arrest me. I was forced to become homeless to evade capture. At that time, I also wrote to Minghui regarding the persecution that I faced.
On November 7, the procuratorate returned my case to the police department.
I was out shopping on June 25, 2013, with my sister and two nieces when seven plainclothes police officers rushed into the store and pinned me to the ground. They dragged me down the stairway while my sister and nieces tried to stop them. My sister and nieces were injured in the process.
Seeing the violent arrest, onlookers thought it was a gang crime and shouted for the police. It wasn't until when I shouted that the police are arresting good people that they realized the police were arresting Falun Gong practitioners.
Due to the violent arrest, I was in an epileptic state and was unable to speak when I was sent to the hospital in the afternoon. My epilepsy was severe while in the hospital; as I was handcuffed, my hands also started to swell.
The doctor refused to examine me due to the severe epilepsy and let the police take me away.
I was still in an epileptic state when I was held at the detention center at night. However, the head of the police department in Donggang ordered my arrest the next day and sent my case to the procuratorate. My case was sent to the court on August 8.
I was secretly taken to the court, handcuffed and shackled, while still epileptic. The court sentenced me without notifying my family.
When they attempted to force me to sign the verdict, I had another major seizure. They used this opportunity to grab my hand to “sign” the verdict.
My family visited me on October 15, 2013, but I couldn't talk to them, as my hands shook uncontrollably. My father and sister told me to remember that they would support me.
After the visit, my health deteriorated further. While en route to the hospital, I was using an oxygen tank. I had a seizure again when I was at the hospital entrance, and both of my hands were black by the time I was sent for a CT examination.
The policewoman told the doctor that I was faking it.
After the examination, the doctor said angrily to her, “I've been a doctor for 20 years and have never seen a patient in such bad shape! She's not faking it! Give me her family's contact number and I'll call them.”
After a visit from my family, I was taken to the Shenyang Women's Prison, but the prison refused to accept me. The police wanted to treat me as a mental patient but did not have proof of mental illness, so they took me back to the detention center.
My family was informed in early November to visit me. When my brother and sister went to the detention center, the police refused to let them see me. My brother learned that I was sent to the prison several times, but the prison refused to accept me due to my serious condition.
My brother requested my release and was told to pay 3,000 yuan in cash for a medical exam. He was told that, if the exam confirmed that I was sick, I could return home.
He asked the police, “If my sister wasn't sick, why did the prison refuse to accept her many times?”
The police had no reply and told him to get proof that I had epilepsy before I was persecuted. If there was proof, they would release me on medical parole.
“My sister never had epilepsy. Why should we lie?” asked my brother impatiently.
He went on to tell them that I became healthy after practicing Falun Gong and my physical problem was caused by their multiple violent arrests. The police responded by saying that, if he didn't want to show them proof, they would get it themselves.
My family went to the detention center a few days later and asked for my release. The center insisted that my family pay the medical fees and get proof my illness was a prior condition. My family refused.
After the third time the prison refused to accept me, I was sent to the Dandong Mental Hospital for a medical examination. I later learned that the mental hospital did not have the right to do the check; there were only two hospitals in Liaoning Province authorized for this type of testing, and that hospital wasn't one of them.
On November 26, I was taken to the Shenyang Women's Prison. But before that, I was taken to the Shenyang Mental Hospital. I learned that the court and Dandong Detention Center conspired to have the hospital issue a fake medical record without examining me.
I was soon sent to prison and detained with the mental patients.
I was treated as a mental patient for three and a half years, and during that time, I lost the ability to speak. I was also forced to take different drugs and had frequent seizures.
Related reports:Ms. Teng Xiuling in Serious Condition, Lost Ability to Speak in Police CustodyMs. Teng Xiuling Denied Medical Parole Despite Dire Health Conditions