(Minghui.org) Ms. Jiang Yongfang, 70, was busy preparing for her older daughter's upcoming surgery on June 15, 2018, when she was stopped outside her daughter's apartment. A group of uniformed and plainclothes officers attempted to snatch her bag without showing a search warrant. She blacked out as she tried to get away.
When she came to, she saw that her wallet had been rummaged through and a card with handwritten phone numbers was gone. She burst into a loud cry. The card was given to her by her daughter, who wanted to make sure her mother knew who to contact in case she didn't survive her high-risk surgery.
Ms. Jiang was targeted because she refused to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. She has been repeatedly harassed by police since the persecution began 19 years ago. Her other daughter moved to a different city and avoided contact with her for fear of being implicated due to her mother being a Falun Gong practitioner.
Ms. Jiang's older daughter postponed her surgery for five days due to what happened to her mother. Police harassed the daughter three days after her surgery.
Ms. Jiang lives in an apartment at Mingdu Mansion, Naxi District, Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. She was coming back from the supermarket a second time that morning and had just stepped out of the elevator when a policeman started to photograph her. Her hands were full of groceries and household items, a box in one hand and a barrel of oil in the other. Her handbag was draped on her shoulder, and she carried a big bag of daily necessities on her back.
She stopped the officer. “It's not permitted to take personal photos at will. You are committing crimes. Do not take photos of me,” she told him.
The policeman didn't stop but instead followed her closely to her doorstep and attempted to enter her home. Ms. Jiang prevented him from entering. The policeman pulled her to the side of the elevator. Her body felt numb and weak, and she sat on the floor.
A plainclothes policeman waiting inside the building came out and attempted to search Ms. Jiang's body and handbag for her keys. Ms. Jiang warned him, “I had a serious heart attack and high blood pressure before. If you make me sick again, you have to pay for it even if no one is witnessing your behavior.”
Two women hiding behind the exit door leaned forward. Ms. Jiang asked them, “Who are you? Why are you hiding there? Too ashamed to show up? Just come out in an open way.”
Ms. Jiang was aware that these police officers came to persecute her when she was alone. She decided to call for help. A lady came upstairs at that moment, so Ms. Jiang called her for help. “Ma'am, these people are committing crimes and doing bad deeds. Please tell my family and my daughter, otherwise, no one will know what has happened even if they torture me to death. It's not wrong for me to practice Falun Dafa. It's not wrong to follow the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance and be a good person.”
At the time, three officers who were hiding in the shadows emerged. One of them was Zhang Hua from the local 610 Office. “Let's go inside and have a talk,” he said to her.
Ms. Jiang refused him and said, “No. It's my daughter's home, not mine. She is not at home, so you cannot go inside without her permission.”
Zhang Hua said, “Not a big deal. We will come back just for a visit.”
“What do you mean ‘come back just for a visit’?” she asked. “What do you intend to do?”
“We care about you, so we will come to see if you have any difficulty in your living conditions,” Zhang said.
“You've been persecuting me for years and brought me to this tragic state,” Ms. Jiang responded. “My family has been broken up because of you. My youngest daughter moved far away from me and dares not to call me. You have followed and persecuted me wherever I go. My eldest daughter dares not ask me to live with her family. What more can you do?”
Zhang’s face hardened. “Search her materials! Search her materials!” he ordered his men.
Four officers surrounded Ms. Jiang, held her arms and feet, and started searching her. Zhang Hua searched her handbag, while another officer took a constant stream of photos.
This angered Ms. Jiang, and she questioned them. “Who gives you the right to do this to me? I am 70 years old now. How can you treat me this way? I am following the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance to become a good person. Am I wrong? What laws or rules do you follow to treat me this way? Show me. You are committing crimes. You are criminals.”
The officers continued. Ms. Jiang fainted in the struggle.
When she came to, the officers were gone. Ms. Jiang found that her wallet had been opened and a contact list with some telephone numbers in the wallet was missing. She started crying.
The contact list was from her older daughter, who had a risky surgery scheduled for June 17. Her daughter gave her the list of supervisors and friends and made some early arrangements. If the surgery failed, Ms. Jiang could contact the people on the list and ask for help with the funeral.
The handwritten card might have been the final contact from her daughter. In the past 19 years, her older daughter has been implicated in the Communist Party’s persecution of Falun Gong. Even when her life is at such a critical moment, she is still affected by her mother's status as a Falun Gong practitioner. Ms. Jiang was saddened when she thought of this.
After this incident, Ms. Jiang's older daughter postponed her surgery for five days. On July 25, police officers again knocked on Ms. Jiang's door for a while, but Ms. Jiang didn't open the door. They then called Ms. Jiang's daughter without any consideration for her recuperation after the surgery.