(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhao Jun, 63 and retired from Tongde Construction Company in Xichang City, Sichuan Province, was arrested on July 18, 2019, for her faith in Falun Gong. The police confiscated her laptop, Falun Gong books, and over 2,000 yuan in cash.
Although the Xichang City Procuratorate rejected her arrest and ordered her release on the grounds of insufficient evidence on August 21, the police still submitted her case to the procuratorate on October 16, 2019.
Below is Ms. Zhao's defense statement submitted to the procuratorate, detailing how Falun Gong has transformed her into a better person.
Finding True Meaning in My Life
I had many ailments since childhood. Headaches, in particular, tortured me for decades. Later I also suffered from gastritis, pharyngitis, insomnia, and year-round colds. Sometimes I had sudden blackouts.
Due to my poor health, I was depressed and unhappy. I once met a fortuneteller who said that I could only live to my 50s. I totally believed him.
I remember one day when I was in second grade, our teacher told us stories about some people who did good deeds. I was so touched that I cried. My teacher mentioned this to my mother, saying, “This child is something special.”
When I grew older, people my age tended to worship film stars. But I looked up to those who had high moral standards and a strong sense of justice. I also wondered if one's life truly came from the mother's womb. I found that explanation hard to believe – I thought there had to be something more.
I was afraid when people said that when a person died, there would be nothing left afterward. Because I saw that when people believed in this, they would take a very cavalier attitude towards life: “Life is short, enjoy it while you can.” I noticed that they did bad things without worrying about the consequences, thinking that everything would come to an end eventually, whether or not they did good or bad things during their lifetime.
Back then, I drifted with the current and wouldn't have considered myself a very good person. However, behind my jaded view of life, I always longed to see hope.
Things started to turn around in 2006 when I took up the practice of Falun Gong and began doing the exercises. Two weeks after that, all my health problems disappeared – for the first time in a long time, I felt healthy! Since then, I have not needed to take any medications and I became very strong. I also understood that the purpose of my life was to become a selfless and altruistic person who always puts others first.
Unfortunately, I was reported three months later for practicing Falun Gong. The guards were going to try to force me to give up the practice. What should I do? My heart ached at the thought of going back to my old life.
But the pressure was enormous, and the persecution would implicate my family. Where was justice? No one cared about me when I was ill, but just when I began to see the light at the end of tunnel, I was being told to give up the practice that had freed me from my misery. Reality was so very cruel.
I had to make a choice: to listen to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or hold fast to my faith. My heart told me that my well-being was more important than listening to the CCP; I'm in charge of my own mind and body. I chose to continue to practice Falun Gong, the practice that's shown me the way to return to my true self.
Treating Inmates with Compassion and Kindness
I was secretly tried on April 29, 2011, and sentenced to three years on September 2, 2011, in the Xichang City Court. The judge refused to disclose the verdict to my family when they went to the court to ask about me.
I was taken to Sichuan Women's Prison on December 28 that same year. The guards arranged for a convicted murderer to monitor me. I was not allowed to speak to anyone.
I thought, “No matter how cruelly they treat me, I will not resent them. I should be kind to everyone.”
Some inmates were touched by the kindness of the Falun Gong practitioners there. When I was tortured, someone would quietly give me some toilet paper (I was not allowed to wash or use toilet paper for days on end) or leave a few candies on my bed.
Later, the guards ordered me to do unpaid labor. An inmate working in the next line over said to me, “I don't need to check the number of pieces you pass on to me because you [Falun Gong practitioners] are all good people. I trust you.”
In fact, even the inmate monitoring me knew that we were good people. When she first started to monitor me, she often asked me questions about how to be a worthy human being and was very happy when I explained to her my own understandings. She said, “You Falun Gong practitioners really put Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance into practice.”
Once, she introduced me to a friend of hers in the dining hall, telling the friend that she had benefited a lot from talking with me. Just then, another inmate shouted at her. “You must not treat Zhao Jun this way. She has not ‘transformed’ yet,” said the other inmate.
Soon, the inmate monitoring me was called into the guards' office. When she came back, she’d turned into a totally different person and often reported me to the guards.
The day before I was released, she bought me a roasted chicken leg as a farewell gesture. She said, “I didn't want to treat you that way, but I had to. I'm sorry.”
I could understand her fear and her helplessness under those circumstances.
I would like to tell you more about the other inmate who was assigned to watch me, a convicted murderer. Once, in order to do what the guards told her to do, she didn’t let me sleep for three days in a row. I was forced to stand absolutely still. Each time I moved my feet even a little, she would beat me. She also stuffed my mouth with dirty socks and stripped me naked. No matter how badly she treated me, I was always kind to her. I even washed her clothes when she asked me to.
In winter, my hands were frostbitten. She said, “Your hands look so awful, I want to chop them off.” Still, she ordered me to do things for her, like wash her clothes. Even though putting my hands into the water was very painful, I still washed her clothes. When she wanted to wear my warm clothes in the cold of winter, I let her.
One day, a guard asked me what I thought of her. I thought that, since I was a Falun Gong practitioner, I shouldn't resent anyone. I didn’t complain about how cruel she was and talked about some of her good points. I never mentioned what I said to the guard to her.
For a while, I could not go to the cafeteria and had to eat with her in the cell. I always got what she didn’t like. At first, she said, “I don't need you to look after me. I despise you.”
I remained unmoved and continued to do what I should. No matter how kind I was to her, as long as the guards told her to torture me, she never showed any mercy. Still, I treated her with kindness and felt really sorry for her because she had to do bad things.
One day, she said, “Stop being kind to me, otherwise I won't be able to be cruel to you.” I was surprised to hear that because she was infamous for being a very nasty person all over the prison; she never showed any mercy to anyone.
On one occasion, she even stuck up for me when some other inmates took advantage of me. She wanted to report their leader to the guards, but I stopped her because I didn’t want that person to be punished.
She later said, “I know that you have never said anything bad about me. I now understand that you Falun Gong people are truly kind and never ask for anything in return.”
Later, she stopped monitoring me. Not long before I was released, another inmate relayed a message to me from her. She said that she was very sorry for what she did to me and that we (Falun Gong practitioners) were the best people. She said she would never take part in the persecution of Falun Gong again.
On the day I was released, many inmates watched me go. Some bravely came over and hugged me. The convicted murderer had tears in her eyes; she was so emotional that she could not look me in the eye. She just walked past me slowly. I could see that she truly felt remorseful.
I never cried when she used to beat me and torture me, but I could not hold back my tears that day when I saw the change in her heart.
Before I left, I asked an inmate to give her an apple. In that prison, giving someone an apple means you wish that person to be safe and sound.
Related reports:
Ms. Zhao Jun Appeals Verdict after Being Released from Prison
