Wei Tianchen is my neighbor and she is also a good friend of mine. I recently received a letter entitled "Appeal to Society for Support for the Innocent ?I strongly urge the release of all Dafa practitioners who have been illegally detained, illegally sentenced, and sent to labor re-education?camps." This letter was signed by Wei Tianchen. I would now like to write down her story so that the facts will be presented to the world.
Wei Tianchen is a 45 year old practitioner, and she has a Bachelors degree. She worked for Hebei General Corporation of Decoration. Her home address is: 401, Unit 2 of Building 8 in Painting Industry Housing at Xixing District in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. Phone number is: 86-311-3623851. She is a good person, but she was sent to a labor camp for two years. She is currently being kept in Class 1, Squadron 2 of Battalion 4 at the Shijiazhuang Women Labor Education Center.
As those who have met Wei know, she is a generous and kind person who works hard and fulfills her responsibilities. She always speaks and acts in a peaceful, considerate manner, and she never argues with others. Every person who knows her, her colleagues, family members, neighbors, or even the policemen in the police station agrees that she is a nice person. She has been such a good and generous person to us that we still cannot accept the fact that, such a kind person like her could be sent for labor education and punished with hard labor?
Wei started practicing Falun Dafa in April 1997. Throughout these three years, she has indeed improved her physical health and moral character, which then resulted in a more pleasant social environment: her body was purified, her family became happier, and she was better at work and more harmonious with friends.
Since last July, during the massive and vicious crackdown on Falun Gong in China, she has chosen not to keep silent or be subdued. Instead, she went to appeal. It is necessary to point out that, appealing is both a legal right and a responsibility for each citizen. With the government making incorrect decisions, and hundreds of millions of Chinese people facing a choice between life and death, she was fully aware of the consequences of stepping forward and appealing. However, to prevent people from being fooled and deceived, and to help the nation achieve a better future, she began the arduous journey of appealing:
- On April 25, 1999, she went to Beijing for the peaceful appeal.
- On July 21, 1999, she walked to Beijing. After being stopped and detained by the police for two days, she was sent back to her workplace.
- On December 24, 1999, although the police attempted to prevent her from going to Beijing, she still made it in time to attend the public trial of Li Chang [one of the Falun Gong practitioners who were sentenced to jail terms of up to 18 years]. Upon her return, she was detained for eight days and was not released until her husband and workplace wrote a letter of guarantee and paid 5,000 Yuan [about $600, 10 months?average wage].
- On March 4, 2000, she went to Beijing again. After being arrested and sent back to Shijiazhuang, she was detained in a police station for five days. Then she was detained under the name of administrative detention for 15 days with a charge of "disturbing public safety."
- On May 12, she tried to appeal. After being stopped at Shijiazhuang Railway Station, she was sent to a local police station at 9:00AM the next day.
- On May 15, she successfully escaped from being monitored by the police and went to Beijing. After displaying a banner reading "Falun Dafa is Good" on the Golden Water Bridge in Tiananmen Square, she was arrested and sent back to Shijiazhuang. During the return trip, which lasted four and a half hours, she was handcuffed behind her back with specially designed handcuffs that became tighter each time the car hit a bump on the road. After being forced to kneel down between the seats, she was scolded and beaten throughout the trip. After arriving at Shijiazhuang's 1st Detention Center on May 15, 2000, she was kept there for 50 days and was forced to work more than 10 hours every day. Together with Shi Jinhua, Zhang Wenjing, and Ding Yan, she had to work under the scorching sun. Everyone there, the police and the prisoners, know that they are good people.
- On July 3, 2000, Wei was sent to the Womens Labor Education Center in Shijiazhuang. The notification stated that, "(Wei has been) sent to Labor Education for two years for practicing Falun Gong."
None of us could accept this fact, and her family members in particular are inconsolable. For example, her father, who is over 70 years old, worries about her all the time. Because of this, he has aged a lot and all his hair has turned gray. He has a history of cerebral hemorrhage. Being so worried about his daughter, he was hospitalized.
Weis mother, who was always proud of her daughter, now does not eat well and cries all day. Her heart became unhealthy and her eyesight deteriorated. She thinks of Wei so much that sometimes during sleep, she gets up and opens the door in a trance, saying, "Tianchen is back, Tianchen is back." But there was nobody out there but the wind. Weis mother is also in her 70s.
Wei's daughter, a lovely girl who used to be relaxed and happy now has to prepare meals for her father, who is busy all day long, and look after her elderly grandparents. Sometimes when nobody is around, this girl will cry all by herself and think about her mother.
Wei's brother, the only sibling she has, could not eat well upon hearing the wrongful sentence that Wei received. He became thin and pallid within two months. Because of worrying about Wei after visiting her, this strong, dauntless man became ill and lay in bed all day. He was just heartbroken. He could not understand why such a nice person that everyone likes and respects could be sent to the labor education camp.
Wei's husband, a key employee of his workplace, can barely settle down to work. He could never imagine that his lovely wife, a sweet and beautiful lady, could be detained and forced to do heavy labor every day in the labor education camp solely because she is a good person. He is worried how she can sustain such inhuman punishment. He has appealed to authorities of all levels for help, but he could only get the result that Wei's sentence of three years in labor camp was reduced to two years. Why should a good person be sentenced to labor education camp?
This previously happy and harmonious family has suddenly experienced such a calamity, a nightmare that has harmed and changed everyone. In fact, it is not just limited to this family. Every Falun Dafa practitioner has a family and friends. Throughout the brutal persecution of kind Falun Gong practitioners, how many more people with consciences will be deeply hurt?
Address for Hebei General Corporation of Decoration: 319 West Yuhua Road, Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province.
Phone number for Hebei General Corporation of Decoration: 86-311-7034569 (business), 86-311-7035959 (appealing) and 86-311-7028284 (contact).
A Neighbor Who is Deeply Concerned About the Injustice
August 2000
All content published on this website is copyrighted by Minghui.org. Minghui will produce compilations of its online content regularly and on special occasions.
