(Clearwisdom.net) I had to leave home often to work in other cities when I was very young. Since I committed some crimes, I was detained in a prison for six years. At the very beginning, I confessed to my crimes and I decided that I would like to work hard to be a good person again. However, I was tortured brutally by countless means by the guards at Wangling Prison, in You County, Hunan Province. My family traveled a long distance from my hometown in Yunnan Province to visit me there. It had not been a long time since we last saw each other, but they didn't even recognize me, since I was disfigured from the brutal torture. When they discovered what had happened to me, they just cried very hard and felt sorry for me. My heart was filled with hatred at that time, and I always thought of killing several bad officers and committing suicide to end my miserable life. I contemplated ways to kill them. As time went by I became despondent, felt discouraged and lost confidence in myself and in life itself.
In May or June 2007, Mr. Li Zhanxian, a Dafa practitioner, was imprisoned in the No. 1 Group of Division Two in Wangling Prison. At that time, I knew very little about Falun Gong, so I didn't say anything to him. My heart was full of negative feelings, so I stared at him with indifference. He was monitored by two prisoners around the clock. Everything he said and did was recorded in a file. The prison guards didn't allow anyone to have contact with him or talk to him, lest they be severely punished.
Pushed by curiosity, many prisoners asked Mr. Li questions. He talked humorously and rationally, and within a few days, many people began to see him in a different light. They commented on him, "This person is at least a university student. There are many well-educated people among Falun Gong practitioners." I later asked him why among Falun Gong practitioners, there are so many well-educated people like him. Mr. Li told me that he had only studied in middle school for one year due to the Cultural Revolution. After that, I trusted him and told him my miserable life story. He inspired me with a lot of reasoning, which was very simply-put and understandable. He awakened me from my horrible nightmares. I sincerely said to him, "Thank you so much for saving me! My heart was full of hatred and the only thing that I could think about was killing people. You have really saved me!" He replied to me with a smile, "You should thank Falun Gong! It's Falun Dafa that saved you!"
The persecution against Dafa practitioners in Wangling Prison was very brutal. Xu Biyan, deputy director of the prison, had a motto and repeated it whenever there was a meeting. He said, "The prison is a place where violence is implemented." When Mr. Li Zhanxian had just arrived at the prison, Xu Biyan led a group of guards from the Department of Education, and together with another guard, Chen Zhigang from the No. 2 Group, they instigated a group of prisoners to forcefully strip off Mr. Li's clothing. They took off several articles of clothing from other prisoners and tried to force Mr. Li to put them on. Mr. Li refused to follow their orders, and neither would he report to them [Note: because Dafa practitioners have committed no crimes and should not be treated as criminals, they often protest their illegal detention by refusing to wear the prison uniform or answer roll call]. As a result, Chen Zhigang forced Mr. Li to stand against a wall from 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. the next morning. This abuse continued for almost two months. During this period, there were five prisoners who often beat Mr. Li.
Chen Zhigang often shocked prisoners with electric batons. The guards shocked all the sensitive parts of people's bodies, such as the head and ears. They usually called a number prisoners and ordered them to hold the victim tightly so that he couldn't move. They then forced a rag into his mouth, verbally abused him and beat him. One one occasion, in the guards' office a guard cuffed Mr. Li with his arms behind his back and several prisoners were ordered to beat him severely on his back with their fists or palms while Chen Zhigang shocked him in the front with an electric baton.
Wangling Prison produced sweaters and all kinds of clothes with famous brands, as well as colorful lanterns. The prison sells their merchandise to international markets. As a result, the prisoners were forced to work hard for more than ten hours every day. Mr. Li refused to follow their orders and wouldn't do the forced labor. The head of his brigade subsequently shouted at him during a group meeting, saying that they would kill Mr. Li. However, Mr. Li made no response, as if he never heard him. Then the guard ordered the prisoners to detain Mr. Li in the workplace until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. every day. After a while, the administrative staff from the group and the brigade went to Mr. Li and talked to him. He told them, "I didn't commit any crime. I am persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party [CCP]. What part of the law allows you guys to force those prisoners to do hard labor for more than ten hours every day?"
I admire Dafa disciples from the bottom of my heart. Mr. Li is so admirable, since when he himself was in a serious, life-threatening situation, he still spoke out on behalf of other people.
In July 2007, the Prison Management Bureau of Hunan Province and the 610 Office visited Wangling Prison for an inspection. Before the inspection, a guard with the last name of Wu from the Department of Education and another guard with the last name of He from the No. 2 Group went to Mr. Li Zhanxian and talked to him. They threatened, "If you don't pay attention to your speech and talk at will, you should consider the results that your actions will bring to you." Mr. Li told me that the first word he said to the people coming from the provincial administration was, "Falun Dafa is good!" He then told the group that he would continue cultivating in Falun Dafa with a firm will. Then, he started to disclose the crimes and all the violent things that happened in the prison. The administrative personnel from Hunan Province only said to him that they could launch an investigation on that topic. Yet they also said to him, "Because of your current attitude, we'll arrest you again after you are released."
I worried about Mr. Li's safety, but from then on, no one made trouble for him.
When Mr. Li clarified the truth of Falun Gong to other people, I backed him up by saying that Falun Gong is really good, and the CCP is very evil. I also wrote articles of my own experiences to expose the evildoings of the CCP and of the prison administration, and submitted my articles to them. As a result, the prison administration illegally detained me in a solitary cell for a month. They also searched for "evidence," planning to extend my prison term. Mr. Li Zhanxian said to me, "Since you have said that Falun Dafa is good, Master Li [the founder of Falun Gong] will protect you."
As a result, I was released home when my term was up. Right now, the book that I am most eager to read is Zhuan Falun.
July 20, 2009
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