I am 56 years old and started to practice Falun Dafa in 1996, in order to improve my health and morality and to be a good person. Prior to that, I suffered from more than ten diseases. The most serious one was the heart disease which prevented me from walking in the hot summer or cold winter. I was always short of breath and lacked oxygen. Sometimes, it caused heart problems and I had to be taken to the emergency room. My life was always at risk. During those years, one day seemed to last forever and I always felt depressed, ill tempered, and was driven to despair because of my disease. I went to many doctors and even begged Buddha to give me better health. I even went to a temple and converted to Buddhism, but nothing worked. Yet, I always believed in the karmic relationship that good actions bring forth good results and wrongdoing brings forth punishment.

Fortunately, in 1996, I received the great book Zhuan Falun. The profound theories and principles contained in the book allowed me to understand the truth about life. From then on, I always conducted myself strictly according to the criteria of Falun Dafa, "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance". My body and mind were purified. It was as if a withering plant had been watered. My entire body and mind was changed and I felt that Falun Dafa gave me a new life.

By cultivating and practicing Falun Dafa, people can improve their physical and mental health, as well as refine their moral character. Bad people can change their ways and become good. Following the universal principles of Truth, Compassion, Tolerance helps people learn that good deeds bring rewards and bad deeds bring punishment.

Out of envy and selfishness, Jiang Zemin, launched his crackdown and propaganda campaign attacking Falun Gong, on July 20^th 1999, and began to persecute practitioners, having them arrested or their homes searched. I took it as my responsibility, as a person who benefited from Falun Dafa, to ask for justice for Falun Dafa and to validate the Fa by explaining the facts. Premier Zhu Rongji stated at the "Two Congressional Conferences" in March 2003, that people who came to Beijing to explain the facts were welcome. Since the Appeals Office is located in Beijing, I went to Beijing. As soon as I got off the bus at Qianmeng in Beijing, I noticed a lot of policemen at Tiananmen Square. I heard the sounds of policemen, street cops and secret agents who were beating and screaming at people as well as the sounds of police cars. One policeman asked me, "Are you a Falun Gong practitioner?" I answered, "Yes." I was pushed into a police car immediately. Right here, in our nation's capital that is so admired by most people, policemen are allowed to beat and insult Falun Gong practitioners but do not allow them to tell the truth. If you tell the truth, you will be severely beaten and detained illegally.

I was detained in the Qiaoling police station for 15 days. When I was released, the director the police station and policeman Dingxian, pulled me into the door of my house. They were trying to extort 3,000 Yuan from me without a receipt. I refused to open the door. They became angry, borrowed a ladder from my neighbor and jumped into my yard. They searched my house, opened every closet and box, but did not find any money. Then they stole my color TV set. From then on, they kept trying to blackmail me. People would always come to my house or call me, which greatly disturbed my daily life.

On June 24th 2000, one of our female friends came to our house for a visit. Policeman Sang and several other police officers surrounded the whole area and began to search my house. Officer Li Gang stole my motorbike. All of my neighbors witnessed how outrageously they behaved and I was again illegally detained for 45 days. During my detention, I wrote an appeal letter to make a report to the relevant government agencies, which aggravated police officer Sang who then began to harass me even more seriously.

In the night of October 2000, around 10 pm, it was raining. Suddenly, I heard that someone was knocking on the door in a great hurry. I did not open the door because I was alone at home. I walked out of the main room and told them, "If you have something to say, please come back tomorrow." Then, I heard some people shouting on the roof of my neighbor's house. It was police officer Sang who was just climbing over the wall and breaking into my yard. I started to shout loudly immediately. My neighbors drove him away. Sang became angry. He then ordered some young policemen to break the chain at my door and entered my house. They rushed into my room while Sang stayed outside, using his cell phone to send commands to police officers Zhang Bin and Li Gang. They dragged me out of the door from my bed and my foot was wounded severely and began to bleed in the process. I loudly cried for help but they still just kept dragging me. I was only wearing a shirt and it was cold and raining. My whole body became drenched in mud and dirty water. My upper body was exposed when they dragged me by my shirt. Due to the intense disapproval of my neighbors, they finally gave up dragging me. It was a shame that policemen mistreated a woman in her fifties! They did not even wear their uniforms or show their badges but dared to break the door of other people's house at night. I was illegally detained for 30 days.

During the night of January 24^th (lunar calendar) 2001, police officer Zhang Bin and other policemen searched my house. Again, I was illegally detained for 15 days. After I was released, on March 8^th, I was arrested for the fifth time at work by some of the officials in my company who, in collusion with the director of the police station, Wang Yazhou, pretended that they wanted to compensate me for my motorbike. The director told me, "Please do not come to our company any longer. If you are arrested, our company will also get in trouble." This is how I lost my job.

During my detention in 2000, two rooms on the west side of my house collapsed in a heavy rain and I was unable to rebuild them. However, I could not go back home even if I had still had a house. To sustain my living, I had to sell the remaining two main rooms and rent a room in Jiancai Street. Around 11 pm on September 8^th, staff from the "610 Office" arrested me for the sixth time. With the help of friends, I escaped. My landlord was terrified, though, and I lost my home. Sometimes, I slept outside in a field.

Over the past few years, Jiang's machine of terror has persecuted me more and more severely and I can no longer meet with my family members and have lost contact with my classmates and friends. Officers from the "610 Office" have even searched for me in my relative's houses. In addition, there were always plain clothes police stationed at the door of my house. To make a living, I had to move somewhere else.

On May 30^th 2002, in Fuyang City, You Yurong from the "610 Office" arrested me for the seventh time. They detained me in the Guoyang Xinle Hotel and began to torture me psychologically. Eight police officers took shifts to monitor me and deprived me of sleep. My two hands were handcuffed. Four female police officers monitored me, even when I only went to wash my hands. Wang Jiushan and Shi Xinming abused me with foul language. Their behavior was immoral and inhumane. They forced me to admit to false evidence they made up themselves. I said, "No! You may take my life but I will never give up my belief [in Falun Dafa]. Compassion will meet rewards and bad deeds will be punished some day!" Yuan Lei and Shi Xinming said that they were willing to be punished and they were not afraid of going to hell. Police officer Yuan Lei, only gave me some dry food without porridge. They wouldn't allow me to go get my own water. Instead, they poured the water for me to drink using some disposable cups from outside the Hotel. The more I drank from the cup, the thirstier I felt. I felt a bitter taste on my tongue and experienced some acid reflux. My esophagus hurt badly and it seemed that many knifes were cutting it. My head became heavy and painful such that I could hardly bear the pain. I have no idea what drug they put in those cups. What an inhumane and vicious method of torture!

I was tortured until I almost lost consciousness. Even when I was dizzy, I could hear them shouting. After the mental torture had lasted for seven nights and eight days, they accomplished their goals of fabricating charges against me using fake evidence and illegal methods. On the afternoon of June 6^th, I was sent to the Guoyang Detention Center. On June 13^th 2003, I was sent back to the Haozhou Detention Center.

During all these years, I was detained illegally several times because I persisted in my firm belief. My house was searched and I lost my home. I cannot go to work and could not go back home even if I still had a house. As a result, wherever I went, I told people what I have suffered and let them know that we are innocent and remind them to be good persons. We are innocent and only want to cultivate "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance".

(Note from the editors: On September 8^th and 9^th, 2003, the Qiaocheng District Court conducted a secret trial of 18 practitioners including Ma Yuxia who was sentenced illegally to 7 years in prison.)