Editor's note: Due to the cruelty of the persecution, we omitted the person's name, address and the place of incident to avoid retaliation and further persecution.
8/11/2000
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I am 33 years old, and work in Shandong Province. I started practicing Falun Gong in 1998.
Ever since the government illegally banned Falun Gong, many Falun Dafa practitioners have gone to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. In October 1999, I was planning to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa but was illegally detained by my work unit for more than ten days. On December 17, 1999, I successfully got on a train heading for Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa. I wanted to meet central government officials and tell them that Falun Gong is a cultivation system that teaches us to become good people and is not an evil religion. However, plain cloth policemen stopped me right after I arrived at Tiananmen Square. They took me to the Shandong liaison's office. Once there, they searched my body and took away my money. They took me to the hallway and three policemen started to beat me with their fists and kick me with their boots. They didn't stop the beating until my face became swollen and my lips bled.
Eight other practitioners who came together with me were also beaten. A male practitioner from Weifang City was stomped on the ground with his two hands handcuffed. They kept kicking his head with their boots. It was very scary watching the blood come out from his mouth. They didn't stop beating him until they were tired, several hours later. They handcuffed us, asked us to sit on the ground, and didn't give us food until that evening. Meanwhile, my work unit supervisor Ma and three other supervisors flew to Beijing to take me back to Shandong and brought me to a local police station. The police spent two days trying to persuade me to give up Falun Gong, but they failed. They then sent me to a detention center. There were six practitioners and four prisoners in the same cell. We worked over ten hours each day in the detention center and the food was really bad.
Thirty days later, my work unit took me out of the detention center. They asked me again whether I would continue practicing Falun Gong and go to Beijing. I said, "Yes." So they did not allow me to go home. Finally I was allowed to go home after my family's constant appealing. However, after being home for only 6 days, on December 23 [of the Chinese lunar calendar, which is the traditional Chinese reunion day], some people from my work unit forced me to get in a mini van, telling me they were taking me to a mental hospital. I opposed, "How can I have mental problems from practicing Falun Gong and being a good person? Why are you forcing me to go to a mental hospital? If you force to send me there, I would rather die in front of you." Due to my strong protesting, they drove me back to my work unit and kept me there. I was forced to leave my home after only six days' of being reunited with my family. My child was only seven years old. Both my grand parents in law are nearly 70 years old. I also need to take care of a sick elder brother and a disabled sister in law. Later I heard that my grand mother in law fainted after I was taken away. December 23 is the day when Chinese people play fireworks to celebrate Lunar New Year. However, on this family reunion day, my work unit illegally locked me up.
They then brought in my mother, who was not a practitioner, and detained both of us.. On December 28 [of lunar calendar], which was two days before the Chinese New Year, my fiancée appealed to the supervisor of my work unit to allow me to go home and to spend the New Year with my family. The person on duty from the police station rudely stopped her. The general secretary said, "You must pay 6000 Yuan (about $750, 12 month wage for average Chinese) if you want him to go home." My fiancée borrowed money from every possible source, but only got 2000 Yuan. The supervisor of my work unit refused her request. She went home in tears. My mother and I spent this unforgettable 2000 Chinese New Year in my work unit. Eight days later, people came back to work after the holiday. The supervisors of my work units found out that I still had not changed my mind. They felt it was too troublesome to arrange people from the work unit and the police station to watch me, so they decided again to send me to a mental hospital. But they failed to do so because I told them that I would rather die. After 20 days' detention, my mother became frail and got sick. She asked to go home but was not allowed. My elder brother finally took her back by force. They put me in detention for over two months and didn't let me go until the conclusion of the annual meeting of the National People's Congress [The purpose of detaining innocent Falun Gong practitioners nationwide during the Congress meeting is to stop them from appealing]. The poor behavior of some government officials was passed around among people, and has aroused peoples anger towards the government. Policemen who disagreed with the government's policy said, "They really lost all of their kind nature, and their mistreatment to people has been much worse than the Japanese invaders [in World War II]."
After I was released for more than 20 days, they were worrying that I would go to Beijing to petition for Falun Gong on April 25 [on that day of last year, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners got together at Zhongnanhai to appeal for Falun Gong], so they illegally took me away and tried to detain me again. I thought that going to Beijing was the only way to tell the real situation to the central government and let them know that Falun Gong is good. Only after Falun Dafa is rectified, will we not be mistreated. Therefore, I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong again. On April 21, while I was appealing for Falun Gong at the Investigative Bureau of the Chinese government in Beijing, I was arrested by the police and was transferred to Shandong's liaison office in Beijing. Three days later, a supervisor from my work unit and the head of the local police took me back to the police station in my hometown. There was a town fair going on that day. They hung an "evil religion" board on my chest and handcuffed my two hands to a utility pole to exhibit me to the public. They kept me there for nearly five hours. After people practicing Falun Gong, the society has everything to gain from it and nothing to lose. The way they treated me was not right. I am determined to use my benevolence and sacrifice to prevent them from detaining me illegally. I held a hunger strike in the police station. On the seventh day of my hunger strike, they released me fearing that my life was in danger. The work unit has still not allowed me to return to work. My salary has been suspended since last October.
I know what is good and what is evil. I also believe that the people will know the truth sooner or later and will be able to tell right from wrong. Nothing can stop me from cultivation. I am determined to be a good Falun Dafa practitioner.
Falun Dafa Practitioner in Shandong Province, China
6/19/2000
