(Minghui.org) Mr. Cheng Peiming from Heilongjiang Province filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in September 2015 for launching the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

Mr. Cheng was sentenced to eight years in 2001 and severely tortured for refusing to renounce his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual practice being persecuted by the Chinese regime.

He managed to escape three years before his term expired and had to go into hiding to avoid arrest. While on the run, he struggled to recover from his torture-induced injuries and to make ends meet without a steady income.

Mr. Cheng's family was not spared, either. His son was kicked out of school when he was 9 years old because his father practices Falun Gong. His wife divorced him while he was in prison, as she did not earn enough to support herself and their son.

Mr. Cheng's mother was given one year of forced labor, and his father was also arrested. Mr. Cheng's two sisters were sentenced, as well.

“Words Can't Describe This Kind of Pain”

Mr. Cheng was arrested on May 11, 2001 and taken to the local police department, where officers stripped him to his underwear and tied him to a “tiger bench.” A group of officers then tortured him; none had their police ID number visible.

One officer punched him in the face repeatedly, causing him to bleed from the nose and mouth.

He wrote in the complaint letter, “Two officers forced their fingers under my armpits, another two put their fingers on my groin, and two held down my feet. They then started digging their fingers in and pinching me. I can't describe this kind of pain. They did it repeatedly. In the end, my whole body cramped, the handcuffs cut into my wrists, and I lost consciousness.”

“I don't know how long I was passed out, but I woke up to a sharp pain on my face. They were using a rubber hose to strike my face. My face felt like it was burning, and blood was coming out of my mouth.”

The officers inserted a photo of the founder of Falun Gong, Mr. Li Hongzhi, into his underpants while his hands were tied to the chair. They then used an iron clamp and a belt buckle to scrape his nipples for hours. They also put a plastic bag over his head so that he couldn't breathe.

He continued, “They later put a metal helmet on my head and pounded on it with hammers. I was tortured like this for two days without sleep. Both sides of my ribcage were bruised. I was taken to the local detention center.”

Tortured by Electric Shock and Cold Water

The guard at the detention center told other inmates, “Another Falun Gong practitioner has come. Give him a good 'education.'”

Mr. Cheng said in the letter, “Most inmates saw my injuries and couldn't bear to beat me again. But one inmate took a big basin, filled it with cold water, and poured it over me. I was trembling all over and fell down.”

He continued, “I started a hunger strike. The director of the detention center, Zhang Yi, came with another five or six officers. They ordered me to kneel down, but I refused. Inmates were then ordered to take all my clothes off. Six or seven inmates held me down so that I couldn't move, while the guards used electric batons to shock my armpits and genitals. The hair in these areas was burnt. They also put the electric baton into my mouth. My tongue blistered from the shocks. They stopped only when the battery ran out. I was tortured like this for three days.”

Blisters and Festering Skin

The electric shocks caused blisters all over Mr. Cheng's body. He couldn't lie down to sleep as a result, and on his bed was a piece of cardboard covered with blood and pus.

He said in the complaint, “One day, a guard ordered inmates to hold me over a sink full of water. They then used large tweezers to tear open the blisters. Blood and pus came out. They then rubbed them with medical alcohol. They also used a little metal sheet to scrape them and rinsed them with cold water. I was in excruciating pain!”

“The guard asked if my family had money. If my family did, they would take me to the hospital for treatment and charge my family for it. Otherwise, if I died, they would just fill out a form and say I died from natural causes.”

“I was sentenced to eight years in 2002 and taken to prison. However, the prison refused to accept me because I was in critical condition. As a result of the persecution, I had developed anemia, my skin was festering, and I had tuberculosis. Guards from the detention center gave 2,000 yuan to the prison authorities, and then they admitted me.”

Injected with Unknown Drugs

Mr. Cheng was in serious condition, and a prison official informed his family that they wanted to treat him.

“I don't know what injection they gave me. After the injection, my whole body started to swell, and my temperature reached 39C (102F). My vision was blurry, and I couldn't see things clearly. I couldn't even stand. I was still held in a small cell with my feet shackled and my hands cuffed to a ring on the floor.”

Guard Huang Zhimin said to him, “If you don't give up your belief, you'll be cremated. We were told by the government that we wouldn't bear any responsibility if Falun Gong practitioners are beaten to death.”

Related reports:The Brutal Persecution of Falun Dafa Practitioner Cheng Peiming

Further Information on the Inhuman Abuse Suffered by Practitioner Mr. Cheng Peiming at Daqing Prison (Photos)

Practitioner Cheng Peiming Escapes Midway through Eight-Year Prison Sentence (Photos)

Practitioner Mr. Cheng Peiming Escapes While in Critical Condition - Daqing Prison Authorities Post Reward for His Capture

Background

In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.

The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners in the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.

Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.

Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.