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| Li Guangzhen |
*****
I am a teacher. After being a teacher for over thirty years, I suffered from all sorts of illnesses: pleurisy, peritonitis, PID (pelvic inflammatory disease) and so on. I had operations for ectopic pregnancy, and developed a serious intestinal problem as a result. My whole body swelled up and was covered with sores. I pulled the hamstring of my right leg, and was allergic to all injections. I ended up spending lots of money but was not able to cure my illnesses. My work unit still owes me 2,000 yuan for the reimbursement of my medical expenses. While I was in despair, I found Falun Dafa in 1994. After listening to the lecture series, all my illnesses disappeared and I was able to experience the feeling of freedom from illness again. I recognised the miraculous power of the Dafa, followed Dafa's requirement, tried to live by the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance," and always thought of others first. The problem was that some people always tried to label Dafa as being superstitious.
In 1996, because I practised Falun Gong, I was reassigned to an elementary school 2.5 km from my home.
In September 1996, the National Security Brigade policeman Liu Wenxuan, Machang Village Police Station policeman Li Guang, and others, a total of more than ten people, came to my house and ransacked it. Without any documentation, they took away my belongings. They fined me 2,200 yuan, after taking 980 yuan in cash from me.
In 1997, the village government ordered my husband Zhou Xirong's employment terminated because I practised Falun Gong. They gave us 200 yuan for our living expenses as severance pay.
In September 1998, I was fired on account of my practising Falun Gong.
In October 1998, forty-two practitioners went to appeal and ask for justice for Falun Gong. Afterwards they reinstated my job. I would not give up Falun Gong because it had given me a new life. I always remembered "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance."
Then the main persecution of Falun Gong began on July 20, 1999. On July 30, 1999, my house was ransacked. The police arrested my husband and me, detained me for over two weeks and fined me 2,500 yuan.
In 2000, the police came to my house many times to harass me. They even called my son's house to check on me when I went to visit him. Once, I was stopped on my way to my son's house and taken to the police station. They searched my bags and interrogated me. In the end they told me to report to them everyday by phone. Thus I lost my freedom from then on.
In 2001, I found a flier and left it at my brother's house. As a result, they ransacked my house again and fined me 1,000 yuan. The police asked my sister-in-law where the flier was from. Knowing I was a Falun Gong practitioner, she replied without thinking: "Probably from my sister-in-law." I was then fined another 2,000 yuan.
In October, 2001, my husband was lured to Machang Police Station while teaching at the school, by policeman Li Jianmin, and illegally detained for over 40 days. It cost us over 8,000 yuan, which we borrowed from all our relatives, to get him out. In April 2002, Li Jianmin tricked me into going to the police station with my four-year-old granddaughter and asked me to write a letter pledging not to practise Falun Gong in the future; otherwise they would fire my son. I did not comply, leaving me with no other choice but to escape, with my granddaughter left behind. From then on I have stayed away from my home. Although I was homeless, my faith remained strong. I was abducted in October 2002 after a practitioner, who could no longer endure the torture, reported me to the police. The police took away 2,000 yuan in cash from me and put me in the detention center. A male guard did a body search on me and found another 1,000 yuan. They illegally detained me for 50 days and then sentenced me to three years of forced labour.
On December 10, 2002, the police department issued an arrest warrant which I refused to sign. The next day they put me in the Second Detention Center. The third day, a deputy captain whose last name was Yang instructed me to sign on a 15-day detention warrant. When I refused, he mumbled some bad words and left. Later they held an illegal trial and some other practitioners. In the courtroom, the police would not let us speak. We yelled "Falun Dafa is great!" The police hit me on my ear and knocked me back a few steps. My blood pressure went up to 190 after that. We were sentenced to prison and ordered to serve our time in Dabei Prison. The police did not let us see our family members or bring our luggage. They wanted our family members to buy luggage for us instead. Then they secretly sent us to Dabei Prison.
At the prison, each of the practitioners was forced to pay 150 yuan for a physical examination of three items. The police searched me and took my Dafa book away on the first day. The police arranged two inmates to guard me. A dozen or so people came up to me while I was ready to get up and do Dafa exercises one night. They put a blanket over my head and beat me up until I passed out. As I was awakening, I heard one of the inmates say: "It would be ok if we tortured her to death. No one in her family is paying attention. Her husband is also in prison. If she does not die, we just throw her in the solitary-confinement cell." I began to recite the Fa. They could not make out what I was saying and lifted me onto the bed. I was forced to do labour as usual the next morning at 5:00 o'clock. When the police came to their duties, they tricked me to go up to the second floor. A dozen or so people beat me up, and tried to force me to write a letter renouncing Falun Gong. Because I would not comply, they tortured me every day. At the end they grabbed my hand to write: "Listen to the officials. Recognise the reality." I was at the time totally exhausted. Whatever I ate, I would throw it up. Twice a day I did it this way. In the beginning, they gave me an old bucket to throw up into. Later they took it away and asked me to go to the restroom. Then they said it took too much time, and wanted me to use sanitary bags. They felt my throwing up was too messy, so they wanted me to fast. With the physical overload and the mental abuse, I ended up always throwing up. I asked to see a doctor, but they kept stalling. To destroy me, they threw away the spoon I used for my meals to stop me from eating.
Two weeks later, because I kept asking for a doctor and also they saw that my condition was truly terrible, they sent me for a check up. They found that I had an uterine tumour, swollen bladder, heart diseases, and my blood pressure was 190. Even so, I was still forced to labour every day. Later they called my family and asked them to bring money. On July 25, 2003, my brother and sister brought in 500 yuan. It took the prison authorities another two months before they finally took me to the university medical center to have an examination. When the result came out, they still would not believe it and they forced me to go to a special cancer hospital to have another examination. This time the result showed an even worse situation: late-stage stomach cancer. The specialist said my life was in jeopardy and I needed to have an operation immediately. But Dabei Prison kept me for another 26 days. I was without food or water for 11 days. They did not want to take responsibility for my dying there, so they finally let me out to seek medical treatment on October 5, 2003. I was lifted into the car and taken home by my family members. My weight had been reduced from the original 170 lbs to 90 lbs. I could clearly see the damage the persecution had done to my family. My husband was still in Dongling Prison in Shenyang, and was tortured until he was skin and bones. He was losing his hearing and sight. His hair turned gray, and he was suffering from unimaginable pain. Our daughter was forced to give up her job to take care of me.
We had a wonderful family. Now it is totally destroyed. My husband and I used to make about 1,000 yuan each month. For the past few years, all the money was withheld by Wang Zhenlin, who was in charge of Falun Gong matters in the village government.
I am grateful to my relatives and good friends who gave me tremendous support. Many people who were not clear about the true situation said: "They'd rather give up the thousand yuan each month to go to the prison." This is not true. Ask your conscience: If someone slanders your mother or father, wouldn't you step up and tell people the true situation? Right now every Falun Gong practitioner is risking his or her life to tell you the true situation. Every flier and CD contains a lot of blood and tears. It also has their best wishes, hoping that you have a wonderful future. We faithfully believe that one day everything will be clear and people will know who was right and who was wrong. No matter how long it takes, we will do our best.
****
The author of the letter above, Ms. Li Guangzhen, died on June 18, 2004. Her passing away leaves us with immeasurable sorrow and regret. A heavy storm hit that noon, as though nature was regretting her death. Rain showers followed her burial the next day and lasted for a week. People asked: "How come the weather does not clear up?" People, are you aware that tragedies and atrocities are happening and continue to happen in Liaoning Province and across China? Thousands and thousands of practitioners are suffering. What you see is only the tip of the iceberg. Please extend your help so that people don't lose their sons and daughters, and young children do not lose their parents. Please urge people to stop this tragedy. Indeed this is a calamity for all of mankind.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2004/9/5/83447.html
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