Two Decades of Persecution, One Shattered Family (Part 4)

(Minghui.org) (Continued from Part 3)

Finding Out about Her Husband’s Death on the Day of Her Release

Ms. Jiang had no clue about her husband’s death until the day she was released. Before her three-year term came to an end in early 2020, she'd tried calling her husband several times in March but couldn’t get a hold of him. Her calls went straight to the voicemail which was very strange—she thought that his cellphone must have been turned off. But after a few tries, Ms. Jiang grew anxious. Her husband used this cellphone for business and never turned it off. Why weren’t her calls getting through? She was worried and had a bad feeling about it.

While meeting with the city officials from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the Department of Justice, the 610 Office, and the Dongge Women's Federation early on the day of her release, Ms. Jiang overheard Guo Yucheng of the 610 office saying “She has nobody at home.” Her mind went blank. “What does it mean? What is he saying?” When she asked her brother and sister-in-law who came to pick her up, the couple was silent. 

Ms. Jiang didn’t find out until midnight that her husband had committed suicide by hanging himself on January 28, during the Chinese New Year holidays. Their son had suffered a relapse and was re-admitted to a mental hospital for three months. One piece of bad news after another, Ms. Jiang couldn’t hold back her tears. She couldn’t sleep for two days and her eyes were burning.

Ms. Jiang stayed the first night with a relative. The next day, she got the key to her own home from officer Liu Jie of the Domestic Security Division at Guozhuang Police Station. Opening the door and walking into the family home that was left in disarray, she was overwhelmed by deep sorrow. Ms. Jiang trembled as tears streamed down her face.

Difficulty Re-registering as Resident

To re-register as a resident, Ms. Jiang went to the Dongge Police Station on Yunxia Street. A female police officer named Tao asked Ms. Jiang, “Do you recognize me? I was in charge of you at the transformation camp (program designed to get Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their belief, usually by putting them through intense brainwashing, verbal and physical abuse, and torture)? Yet I still have to deal with you after all these years.” She took Ms. Jiang to the residential registration office downstairs. 

A male officer turned on his laptop and asked Ms. Jiang, “Which part of your verdict was not true?” He then asked if she still practiced Falun Gong. When Ms. Jiang didn’t answer, another officer said, “If you do, just say yes; if you don’t, say no. Simple. Let’s hear it.” They then brought back Tao who asked Ms. Jiang why her address was different from what was on her old ID and wondered if Ms. Jiang had gotten a divorce. 

Ms. Jiang said, “I am here to register for residency. Just stick to the process and don’t ask about anything else. The rest is my own business.” An officer said that higher-ups instructed them to ask these questions. He walked out to make a phone call, then asked Ms. Jiang to sign some paperwork when he returned. Seeing that the officers were not going to proceed with the registration, Ms. Jiang decided to leave and reached for the door. Two male officers quickly tried to block her. She had to force the door open to get out.

As soon as she got back to her relative’s home, Ms. Jiang’s sister-in-law called and asked when she was going back to her own home. Ms. Jiang found out that Guo Yuchen of the 610 Office and several officers had gone to her mother-in-law’s and asked why she had not returned to her own home. They insulted Ms. Jiang in front her in-laws which made her mother-in-law resent Ms. Jiang even more.

Losing Retirement Pension and Inheritance 

During her three years of imprisonment, the Pingdu Social Security Center withheld Ms. Jiang’s retirement pension and four years of salary. Part of the six months of payments that she did receive were garnished. The remainder was deducted from her husband’s death benefits. 

Ms. Jiang sought out Li Jianghua from the Guozhuang Police Station, Liu Jie from the Pingdu Domestic Security, Guo Yucheng from the 610 Office, Lu Pengkun from the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Zhang Zhengxia from the Procuratorate, Li Yan from the local court, Wang Zhongfu and just about every person involved in her case. However, all these officials tried to evade responsibility.

Ms. Jiang took her son Zhao Xiaodong out of the mental hospital soon after her release. As Mr. Zhao seemed to be doing better, the mother and son planned to start a small business. Ms. Jiang hoped to help Zhao get back on his feet and maybe even start a family one day. However, she couldn’t come up with the capital needed to start a business. 

All of the family’s savings were under Ms. Jiang’s husband’s name and Ms. Jiang’s mother-in-law had the bank cards. When Ms. Jiang and her son went to visit, the mother-in-law refused to return the bank cards, “Officer Guo Yucheng [from the city 610 Office] told me not to give them back to you.” She went on and insulted Ms. Jiang in front of her son.

However, Lu Pengkun from the Pingdu Procuratorate (or Department of Justice) told Ms. Jiang, “It’s impossible. Is Guo Yucheng dumb? He doesn’t have the right to tell your mother-in-law what to do or what not to do. Your mother-in-law is being ridiculous.” 

When Ms. Jiang tried to confirm with Guo Yucheng from the Pingdu 610 Office that he had indeed instructed her mother-in-law, Guo didn’t deny it. “I told your mother-in-law to keep them safe for you,” he said. When Ms. Jiang asked Guo why he didn’t tell her about her husband’s death when he met with her the day of her release, Guo said he couldn’t tell her then. When Ms. Jiang asked him about her retirement pension being withheld, Guo said it was the Social Security Center’s jurisdiction.

Ms. Jiang’s mother-in-law withdrew several hundred thousand yuan using Ms. Jiang’s husband’s bank cards and returned them with only a few yuan left in the accounts. She insulted Ms. Jiang and the founder of Falun Dafa. Her hostile attitude caused Ms. Jiang’s son, Mr. Zhao Xiaodong much anxiety. After returning from his grandparents’, he stayed up all night and smoked an entire pack of cigarettes. 

Mr. Zhao seemed to have lost interest in starting a small business since that visit and rarely communicated with his mother anymore. His slipped into a relapse. When his friend called and asked him what he was doing, he shocked everyone by saying, “I am reading The Selected Works of Mao Zedong.” His friend hung up quickly and blocked him on social network. One early morning, Zhao Xiaodong beat Ms. Jiang, causing her head to bleed.

(The end)

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