(Minghui.org) On Mother’s Day 2016, May 8, a mother in Qitaihe City, Heilongjiang Province, Ms. Tan Fengyun, had her home broken into by the police. She was arrested for upholding her faith in Falun Gong. That same day, another 16 Falun Gong practitioners in Qitaihe City, most of them also mothers, were arrested. Nine were sentenced to prison, including Ms. Tan, who had also been jailed once before.
The following is Ms. Tan’s own account of her ordeals since the Chinese communist regime began to persecute Falun Gong in 1999.
First Arrest and Sentence
I am 61 years old. I took up Falun Gong in 1998. I had severe tuberculosis peritonitis for years at the time and I was unable to find the cure despite spending effort and money. My family was devastated. However, a week after I began to practice Falun Gong, I was cured. My husband was amazed and really happy.
After the persecution of Falun Gong was launched in July 1999, the police arrested, detained and sentenced many practitioners across the country. Despite the mounting pressure, I uphold my faith because I know Falun Gong is good.
One morning in March 2004, five officers from Shuqi Police Department barged into my house and raided it. They confiscated all of my Falun Gong books, video recorded and photographed the process. They arrested me and took me to the police department.
They interrogated me for 38 hours straight and tried to find out from whom I obtained the books and the materials, and with whom I had contact. I refused to tell them. They handcuffed me to a metal chair and hang a big, bright light bulb atop of my head to burn me. Later they took my phone book and tried to find contacts of other practitioners but to no avail.
Picture: https://www.minghui.org/mh/article_images/2006-3-4-msj-kuxin-63.jpgTorture reenactment: metal chair
They next sent me to Qitaihe First Detention Center. The Xinxing District Procuratorate later indicted me and moved my case to the Xinxing District Court.
One of my husband’s superiors was a righteous person and tried his best to get me out, but failed. Three months later, I was sentenced to three years in prison with four years of probation.
Second Arrest and Sentence
On the early morning of May 8, 2016, which was the Mother’s Day, while my husband and son were still sleeping, I heard a knock on the door and opened it. Six people barged in, claiming to be from Qiezihe Police Station. They asked me to come with them. I did not want them to raid my house and confiscate my Falun Gong books or materials, so I agreed to go with them. But I noticed that they were not driving in the direction toward the police station and questioned them. They blatantly told me that they deceived me.
I was taken to Qiezihe Domestic Security Division. Then some police went back to my house and raided it, taking away my computer, printer, cell phone, printing paper, and all of my Falun Gong books.
Later the police showed me the lawsuit I filed against Jiang Zemin (the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution) to the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate and asked me why I did it.
I told them that the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate announced in 2015 that regular citizens can be plaintiffs in criminal cases and that the two agencies would guarantee the registration and processing of any complaints filed with them. To exercise my legal right, I sued Jiang, who was the main culprit in the persecution of Falun Gong.
Officer Li Jianguo asked me where I got the printer, computer, and Falun Gong books, and the practitioners I had contacts with. I said that I did it all by myself. They questioned me over and over again all day. Then they took me to a hospital and did a thorough physical examination of me. They interrogated me a few more times in the next few days, and then submitted my case to Qiezihe Procuratorate.
I was taken to Qitaihe City First Detention Center where the living condition was poor. My cell had a total of fourteen people and each of us was given only two corn buns daily with a thin soup. We had to buy other food with marked-up prices. When my family sent food to me, I shared them with my cellmates. I treated everyone nicely, no matter what crimes they had committed. They saw my kindness as a Falun Gong practitioner and also treated me well. Many of them quit the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliates upon learning how it persecutes Falun Gong practitioners and other innocent people.
I was tried by the Qiezihe Court at the end of November 2016. My lawyer entered a plea of not guilty for me. He argued that practicing Falun Gong is completely legal, and that I didn’t break any law by having Falun Gong books. However, the court convicted me on charges of “undermining the implementation of the law,” the standard pretext used by the regime to criminalize us.
I appealed to the intermediate court. Two staff members came to the detention center near the end of April 2017 and had a hearing of my case for less than ten minutes. A few days later, they delivered the verdict that the original verdict was upheld.
Later, I was taken to Harbin Women’s Prison. Right after I arrived, I was locked up in a room. Later, I was forced to sit still on a small stool and watch videos defaming Falun Gong. One inmate was assigned to monitor me. I wasn’t allowed to talk to other practitioners, nor get out of the room. The long-term mental and physical torture caused my health to going down hill and I lost a lot of weight.
A practitioner from Yichun City, Heilongjiang Province became emaciated. Later, she was diagnosed with terminal intestinal cancer. I tried to find opportunities to talk to her and encouraged her to uphold strong faith. She finally overcame the tribulations and regained her health when she was released.
I saw another practitioner being carried out by two inmates to have a medical examination. I felt so sad for her.
Several criminal inmates with long prison terms actively assisted in torturing the practitioners in order to get term reduction. Some practitioners suffered mental disorder, and some were unable to take care of themselves.
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