(Clearwisdom.net) Practitioners Mr. Zhou Guocai and Ms. Lu Lijie, a couple from Suiling County, Heilongjiang Province, recount their experiences of persecution.
Ms. Lu Lijie
I am Lu Lijie, 66 years old. I used to be weak and was unable to walk unaided. I had rheumatoid arthritis, and heart and gynecological problems since I was very young. When I began to practice Falun Gong in June 1996, my illnesses disappeared within two weeks and I became a healthy person.
When I went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong on June 23, 1999, I was arrested on Tiananmen Square by two plainclothes policemen. I was taken to the Qianmen Police Station, and was transferred to the Suiling County Detention Center on June 25.
Guards Guo Xudong and Zheng Shujun took me to a small cell on the morning of June 26. My legs were forced apart, and I had to bend my upper body so that it was perpendicular to my legs. My arms were then pulled straight out at either side of my body. They call this torture method "flying an airplane." If my arms went too high or too low, they would beat me. When I could no longer hold this position and bent my legs, the guards kicked me in an effort to straighten them again. I stood in this position for two hours.
Zhao Aige interrogated me at night. He yelled, "If I lose my job because of you, I will kill your entire family, including your daughter-in-law's unborn baby!" He was worried because local officials are fired from their jobs if too many practitioners from a certain district go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong.
I was held in the detention center for three months, and went on a hunger strike there. Zhou Wenjie, from the political security section, demanded that my family pay 1,700 yuan before he would release me.
Zhao and Teng Chuncheng broke into my house and arrested me on January 21, 2001. They took me to the police station and demanded that I write a guarantee statement saying that I will renounce my belief. When I refused, I was held in the detention center for four months. This time they extorted 1,000 yuan from my family before releasing me.
On August 20, 2002, my husband and I went out to do some chores, when police officers Xu Po and Zhao arrested us. We were taken to the Xinxing Police Station, where we were handcuffed. Director Li Lianjun ran towards me and slapped me in the face twice, yelling "Shameless!" My mouth swelled up and I spat out blood. This made him even angrier, as he shouted, "Who said you could spit?" Li then hit my face with a stick and took me to the detention center.
My husband and I were sentenced to a year and a year and half of forced labor respectively. After spending three months in the detention center, I was taken to the Shuanghe Forced Labor Camp in Qiqihar City. The authorities at the camp refused to take me, so I was transferred back to the detention center.
Just before the Chinese New Year, guards forced me to clean the windows. I was very weak from the torture and fell off the small stool that I was standing on. I vomited and lost consciousness.
The next day Wang Qingfeng, head of the detention center, took me to a hospital. After a brain scan, the doctor found that I had two brain hemorrhages. Wang and the other officers did not want to be responsible if I were to die, so they left me at the hospital. They informed my son and I went home with him. Officials at the detention center then forced my son to pay them 500 yuan.
Mr. Zhou Guocai
I am 67-year-old Zhou Guocai. I used to have migraines, heart palpitations, and lung and kidney problems. I could not hold a regular job because of my illnesses. I visited many doctors but could not get well. I began to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and soon became healthy again. Shortly after I began to practice, I was in a car accident and the doctors thought I would not survive. Over a month later, I was taken to the Second Harbin Medical University Hospital, where a professor told me that a miracle had happened and I would live, but that I would be permanently paralyzed. However, under the mercy of Teacher, I was able to walk again.
My wife and I were arrested on August 20, 2002, by police officers Xu and Zhao. We were taken to the Xinxing Police Station. They wanted me to admit to having committed a crime for giving out truth clarification materials to local residents. When I refused, I was taken to a detention center.
Police officers Liu Chun and Dong Hongtao from Xinxing Police Station came to the detention center to interrogate me five days later. They handcuffed me, and forced me to bend my upper body 90 degrees while keeping my legs straight and closed together. I was forced to hold this position with my head pushed down. Within an hour, my face was swollen and I felt very dizzy. When they allowed me to move, I could not stand up straight. My back was in pain and my arms and legs were stiff. I was then handcuffed and hung up, with my toes barely touching the ground. I was left like this for an hour. I felt my bones were torn apart and my joints hurt terribly. The pain was so excruciating that I had difficulty breathing, and the handcuffs cut into my wrists. For the next four months I lost all feeling in my hands. On September 28, 2002, I was sentenced to one year at the Suihua Forced Labor Camp.
When I was at home cooking in the afternoon of September 28, 2006, Tian Jingbo and Li Changbo, both senior officers of the Domestic Security Division, and a dozen other officers broke into my house. Li handcuffed me to my bed, while they ransacked my home. They confiscated my life savings of 16,200 yuan, my cell phones, DVD player, Falun Dafa books and other personal belongings. When my wife returned home, they also stole her purse.
My wife and I were taken to separate detention centers. I was interrogated three times while handcuffed to an iron chair for over an hour each time. My buttocks were sore and hurt for two days. Li once kicked my legs, causing my kneecap to be in constant pain. A driver in the police station punched me in the head twice. I almost fainted and couldn't see clearly. I was taken to the Suihua Forced Labor Camp a month later, but they refused to take me because of my poor physical condition. I was then taken to the Suiling Detention Center and held there for over a month.
