18 Year Old Girl High School Student in Anhui Province Detained Multiple Times and Threatened by Police with a Gun

Li Yingjie is an eighteen-year-old student in Bozhou, Anhui Province. Since 2001, when she was only fifteen, she has been repeatedly arrested and tortured by the police from the "610 Office" (1) of Bozhou City Political and Legal Committee, the National Security Office and the Tangling Police Station. She was beaten up, forced to undergo brainwashing at a labour camp, forced into a painful position with her hands handcuffed behind her back, and was force-fed with alcohol. Police officers Shi Xinmin, Li Gang and Yuan Lei held a gun to her head and threatened her saying, "We will kill you." In 2003, Li Yingjie was sentenced to three years in prison.

There are more than ten people who were directly involved in persecuting Li Yingjie. They include the following: Zhu Xiaoyan, Shi Xinmin, Yuan Lei, Li Gang, Wu Xianbin and Wang Jiushan from the "610 Office" of Bozhou City Political and Legal Committee and the National Security Office, Sang Lingli, Huang Shan and Li Jingliang from the Tangling Police Station.

Li Yingjie's personal account of the torture she suffered

In 2001 I turned fifteen. At around 6:00 a.m. on March 2, 2001, Huang Shan and others from the Tangling Police Station broke into my home and dragged me into a police van. During the process, the soles of my shoes were torn off. I was brought to Beishi District. They tried to force me to curse Falun Gong and its founder. They asked me whether I would continue to practise Falun Gong. We practitioners are all good people who follow the principles of "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance." We would not curse anyone, let alone our Teacher.

I was detained for about one month starting on March 2. Later I was transferred to a so-called "transforming class" (located at the Agricultural Cadre School) where I suffered forced brainwashing. One time when I refused to practise Tai Chi as they requested, officer Sang Lingli (now she works at the Tangling Police Station) forcefully grabbed the front of my shirt. This caused a bloody scrape on my neck. She then dragged me into another room and pushed me fiercely. My head bumped against the bed. After striking me on my forehead, she mocked me saying, "Don't cry if you are so strong willed."

Because I refused to give up my belief in Falun Gong, in the afternoon of April 7, my detention was extended.

On June 16, 2001, I was taken to the Hefei Female Labour Camp to be brainwashed. However, nothing could change my firm belief. Thirteen days later I was taken back to the brainwashing centre held in the Bozhou City's Taishan Hotel. The long-term mental torture greatly devastated my spirit. On the evening of July 8, I escaped by jumping from the 2nd floor of the Taishan Hotel. Since then I could not go home or go to school, so I was forced to travel about homeless to avoid further persecution.

On the evening of April 22, 2002, police from Beiguan Police Station arrested me and took me to the Bozhou national security office. They deprived me of sleep for two days straight and forced me to stand up the entire time. Later Zhu Xiaoyan, Shi Xinmin and Yuan Lei took me to the Bozhou Public Security Division Bureau and then the Haijing Hotel, where I suffered physical and mental torture and humiliation.

The police forcefully handcuffed me, and covered my head with my coat and told me that they were taking me to a hotel in the Luyi area. In fact they took me to the Haijing Hotel near the business area of Bozhou City. I felt like vomiting due to the suffocation. Shi Xinmin and Li Gang threatened me saying, "Pour petrol on her and tell other people that she burned herself to death."

Li Gang then took a juice bottle, went downstairs and filled it with petrol. He struck my head with the bottle. Shi Xinmin ruthlessly grabbed my hair and pinched my ears so hard that my skin almost broke. He pulled on me to force me to squat, but I refused. They pressed me down forcefully and did not allow me to put on shoes and socks. He mocked me saying, "Why has your hair become so messy?"

The police took turns watching me. They deprived me of sleep and handcuffed my hands from behind while covering my head with my coat. The handcuffs were so tight that they cut into my flesh. They put several water bottles between my arms and pushed the handcuffs constantly so that it became tighter and tighter.

Police beat my head, shoulders and back while harassing me with foul language. Shi Xinmin and Li Gang tried to force-feed me with alcohol. They pressed me down to the ground and pinched my nose to open my mouth. I still refused to open my mouth, so they failed to force-feed me. They cursed me, saying that I was too stubborn.

Shi Xinmin, Yuan Lei and Li Gang threatened that they would drag me out and shoot me while Yuan Lei held a gun to my head. Shi Xinmin beat me up. Afterwards, he claimed, "You are still a child. We did not touch you."

I said, "You handcuffed me from behind and my hands became swollen. Isn't that torturing me?"

He said, "When did I handcuff you?" He completely denied what he had done. He finally said, "Inject her with some drugs. She will not dare to say anything."

After five days, I was taken to the Qiliqiao Detention Center. I was detained there for twenty days and taken to the brainwashing center. Twenty days later, I was once again taken back to the Qiliqiao Detention Center.

I went on a hunger strike for seven or eight days and was finally released.

In November of 2002, Li Jingliang and two others from the Tangling Police Station came to my home and asked me, "Do you still practise Falun Gong?" I replied, "Yes." They then dragged me into a police van and took me to the police station and later to a detention centre.

I was only released after going on a hunger strike for over ten days.

In June of 2003, Yuan Lei called me at home. He deceived me by saying, "The court called on you for a talk. It will not take long." After I arrived at the court, I was taken to a detention center where I have been detained ever since.

I have experienced terrible things that a teenager would not normally experience only because I wanted to say, "Falun Dafa is great. Falun Dafa is righteous" and because I believe in "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance." I did not do anything wrong and did not violate any law. I am supposed to have freedom of speech and belief. I oppose this persecution. I hope the legislative departments and courts can correctly judge right from wrong. Punish those criminals who torture Falun Gong practitioners and give me back my freedom!

(1) The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2004/6/4/76314.html