(Minghui.org) I live in the countryside in China, and several members of my family practice Falun Gong, including my husband and my parents-in-law. After the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, village officials and local police regularly harassed us.
I was really frightened in the early years of the persecution—a dog barking, a knock on the door, or a phone ringing would make me very nervous and keep me from sleeping at night. I worried that someone in my family would be arrested and tortured in custody like so many other Falun Gong practitioners.
After enduring countless dreadful days and nights, I came to the realization that my family was innocent and that it was the CCP officials who were committing wrongdoings against innocent citizens. After all, there was nothing wrong in following Falun Gong's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I made up my mind to not let officials or the police ever bully my family again.
Although I am not a Falun Gong practitioner myself, I decided to stand up to the perpetrators. Whenever they came to our home again, I first took the Falun Gong books to my room and then stood guard at the door. They never dared to go into my room.
Retrieving Confiscated Items
On one occasion the township police came to take away my father-in-law and confiscate our tricycle. Standing in the yard in front of our home, I said to the officers, “The tricycle will stay—it does not practice Falun Gong or harm anyone. My father-in-law cannot go either since we rely on him to help with the family. Plus, who will bear the responsibility if something happens to him? If you guys have to arrest someone, you can take me away!” They left without a word.
Agents from the county Domestic Security Division stopped my husband on his way to meet a client in March 2017. They ransacked our home afterward and confiscated many of our valuables. They sentenced my husband to three years in prison.
While my husband was incarcerated, I did temporary jobs to make a living to support our children and my parents-in-law. In my spare time, I frequently went to the police to request they return the items they’d confiscated, items which were our lawful possessions and that they were holding illegally. I knew I was right, and I also asked Master Li (the founder of Falun Gong) for help. Many miraculous things happened in the process of getting the police to return what they had confiscated.
It started with a lawyer that I hired for my husband. The police said that he wasn’t allowed to see my husband. But the lawyer did see him in the detention center, because the officer on duty forgot about the order from the Domestic Security Division. These two agencies later even argued with each other over this.
Another time when the lawyer showed up, the Domestic Security Division again told him he couldn’t meet with my husband. I begged Master Li for help in my mind, hoping we could see the director of the Domestic Security Division. We waited outside the building for half an hour until the director returned. When I asked for a brief meeting, he said, “No way” and defamed Falun Gong.
“Falun Gong practitioners live by Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, and there is nothing wrong with it,” I said. “Plus, there is no law saying the practice of Falun Gong is unlawful.” He couldn’t prove me wrong and later accepted materials from the lawyer.
I went to the Domestic Security Division again in April 2017 to ask for the return of our family vehicle. When I saw the director at a side entrance, I told him why I was there. “No way,” he answered, and denied my request. I asked him for clarification since no Chinese law allows the police to confiscate family vehicles from Falun Gong practitioners.
“If you can find such a law, I will go home,” I said. “Otherwise, please give the car back to me.”
He would not budge and began to slander Falun Gong.
I did not give in either. I told him that the government had a list of banned sects and that Falun Gong was not one of them.
His tone softened, and as I continued to push, he returned the vehicle to me that afternoon.
In July 2017, I got back the counterfeit money detector we used in our family business. On my next trip, I asked for my husband’s ID, household registration book, and driver’s license. The director first said they would not return them until my husband’s release. I just continued asking. In the end, he gave me everything I asked for.
Everything Returned
One time when I visited my husband, he said that the police took money from his pocket to pay for his physical exam following his arrest. So I went to ask for the money back, but the police ignored me.
In April 2018, I went to the Domestic Security Division to request the return of our two computers and two printers they had confiscated. They first gave me my husband’s cell phone. When I asked for my computers back, the deputy director said there was a password-protected software on the computers that could be related to Falun Gong.
“We use these for our business!” I yelled at him. “We use the black and white printer to print contracts and the color printer for project designs. What law says that doing business is illegal? Please return them to me.” They gave them back to me.
In June 2018, I went to the Domestic Security Division for the 300 yuan they took from my husband to cover his physical exam, and the 1,000 yuan they found in our home. As I was waiting to be seen, one officer yelled at me, “Are you here looking for a hard time? Get out!”
“Please mind your language, young man,” I said, “You know we Chinese believe that ‘Good is rewarded with good and evil incurs evil’.”
I pointed out that officers like him were arresting and mistreating innocent Falun Gong practitioners who just wanted to follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be better people.
The deputy director eventually gave all the money back to me.
Continued Efforts
After my husband was arrested, the Domestic Security Division provided false statements for the Procuratorate to charge him. Since there was not enough evidence, the police increased the number of confiscated items from less than 1,000 to 26,000. The inflated number used to sentence my husband was listed on the final verdict. After the chief judge noticed the discrepancy between the actual number of confiscated items and the police-fabricated figure, he simply corrected the number on the verdict.
When we appealed the verdict, the intermediate court did not investigate and upheld the primary judgment.
The day before my husband was transferred to prison, the intermediate court told me to come and sign a document saying my husband’s ID number was documented incorrectly and needed to be corrected. I went but refused to sign any paperwork, fearing they might use my signature to further persecute my husband as they did to other practitioners. I talked with the court clerks one by one and said they had committed crimes by wrongly charging and sentencing Falun Gong practitioners.
Back home, I continued calling the police and court officials again and again, asking them to release my husband. I am proud to be the wife of a Falun Gong practitioner. Practitioners are wonderful people and they are suffering tremendously for their belief. We need to support them wholeheartedly.
