What On Earth Is My Mother's Crime?!

My mother Yang Taizhen, 53, lives in Luzhou City, Sichuan Province. She started practising Falun Gong in 1998. She previously suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and gynaecological diseases, causing monthly medical expenses in the thousands of yuan¹. Without a regular income, she was constantly worried about the high medical expenses. However, after practising Falun Gong, all her diseases were cured and she regained a healthy body.

My mother is a good person, and conducts herself according to the principles of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance, never making trouble for anyone. Since July 1999, the persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin's [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] regime has brought grave disaster to my family, especially to my mother.

My mother went to Beijing three time to appeal for the rights of Falun Gong, and was intercepted by the authorities. She was detained twice and sentenced to forced labour once.

The first time she went to Beijing, she was intercepted and detained ten days. The authorities charged our family 1,800 yuan for expenses incurred by government personnel travelling to Beijing to intercept my mother.

In August 2000, my mother went to Beijing a second time. She was intercepted and detained for a month. After she was released, the authorities pressured my father to closely monitor my mother's activities, causing my mother to live in fear of domestic violence and abuse.

In January 2001, my mother went to Beijing a third time. She was intercepted and sentenced to two years of forced labour.

The Anfu Neighbourhood Committee of the Naxi District, Luzhou City forced a 26,718.20 yuan fine on my family. My father requested a receipt for the money. An official with the last name of Chen provided an unusual list of expenses, which was evidence to the persecution and extortion of practitioners by the Anfu Neighbourhood Committee. The expenses included: (1) 5,600 yuan for Wang Xiaoping's trip to Beijing; (2) 2836.20 yuan for Wang Xiaoping's trip to Chongqing City; (3) 1,320 yuan for Zhou Zhen's trip to Chengdu City; (4) 5,080 yuan for Yuan Lihua's trip to Beijing; (5) 7,092 yuan for Zhao Daqiang's trip to Beijing; (6) 3,900 yuan for the Liangyou Hotel Brainwashing Centre, where my mother was detained for eight days; (7) 890 yuan for the inspection by the Regulations Committee.

On November 22nd, 2007, my mother was buying groceries at the Dayu Village, when someone handed her an open letter which was written by Wang Zhaojun, standing member of the Anhui Province's Political Consultative Conference to Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao. Before my mother could read the letter, two plainclothes policemen came up to intervene. Since Wang Zhaojun's letter did not break the law, my mother was not arrested.

On March 24th, 2008, my mother went out to pay the electricity bill. Two plainclothes policemen arrested her and put her in a police vehicle. They confiscated her mobile phone and used it to call my father. Even before my father could bring her some clothes, my mother was taken to the Nanmusi Women's Forced Labour Camp in Zizhong City, Sichuan Province. She was charged with distributing Falun Gong materials, while she was grocery shopping at the Dayu Village on November 22nd, 2007.

In the forced labour camp, my mother refused to co-operate with the camp authorities. She refused to answer the roster call, or to sign any documents. The authorities beat her on a regular basis, dragged her by the hair, forced her to stand facing the wall for long periods of time, and forced her to sit on a chair for extended periods. When my mother refused to wear the prisoner uniform and the number tag, the guards took away all her clothes except for a very thin piece, even during the cold winter. Other inmates were accomplices to the authorities. When a health check-up found that my mother had high blood pressure, they forced her to take unwanted medication. They poured cold water on her head, and did not allow her to change clothes until the water dried away by itself. Once, inmates Chen Xing and Wu Nana stomped on my mother's legs, causing heavy bruising on her thighs that lasted over fifty days, and she was not able stand up or sit normally.

On December 5th, 2008, the Nanmusi Forced Labour Camp authorities released my mother on bail for medical treatment. At that time, she had been suffering from high blood pressure caused by persecution in the camp.

My mother did nothing illegal, and the Naxi 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) and police officers could not produce any evidence against her. My whole family considers this to be unfair, and wants justice served.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/10/30/211412.html