Imprisoned Falun Dafa Practitioner Cai Zidong from Shiyan City is Steadfast in His Belief

Cai Zidong, a former volunteer coordinator for Falun Dafa in Shiyan City, Hubei Province was sentenced to eight years in prison after being arrested in October of 2000. Since 2002, the Shiyan City 610 Office has spread lies that Mr. Cai had succumbed to brainwashing sessions, become a collaborator in Wuhan City, etc. Indeed, some practitioners were deceived by the false information and were misled after brainwashing. This following letter by Cai Zidong was smuggled from the prison and reveals the fabrications by the Shiyan City 610 Office (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). This letter is currently being passed around among Falun Dafa practitioners in Shiyan City.

* * * * * * * * *

I have now been in prison for four years without being able to see you. How is our family? Shanshan (Cai's daughter) must be very tall now? I miss my fellow practitioners greatly, but cannot contact them, please say hello to everyone from me!

We have walked the path of personal cultivation together and have witnessed the spread of Falun Dafa in the Shiyan area. Together, we did what we should do. In this special time period, when Falun Dafa is being attacked, I wish that I could diligently advance together with everyone else, but instead, I am confined behind bars. Yet, my heart is always with you all, and I validate the Fa (universal law, the teachings in Falun Dafa) in this different environment to the best of my ability.

We Falun Dafa practitioners inside the prison have been validating the Fa and resisting the persecution. Although lies about us were spread to the outside, I tried to send the truth to you, which was very hard but we were not defeated. After two years of protesting the persecution, we have made good progress inside the prison. Looking back on the path I have taken during the past four years I have not done very well in some aspects, but I have definitely matured while enduring tribulations.

The police arrested me in October of 2000. They violated the Constitution and my civil rights and tortured me. I have endured the "Carrying a Sword on the Back" ¹ torture method multiple times, which has resulted in the tearing of two tendons in my shoulder, and especially my left arm is in bad condition. Both of my arms lost sensation and I could no longer lift them. I tried to regain my strength only by doing the Falun Dafa exercises intensively for two months because otherwise my arms would have been crippled.

I witnessed Falun Dafa practitioners from Shiyan City validate the Fa by risking their lives in the Detention Centre. On trial, we did not consider our lives. We explained the truth about Falun Gong to the judges in a dignified manner, appealed for the rights of Falun Dafa, exposed the evil nature of Jiang and his regime, and proclaimed our innocence. Although the judges went mad and sentenced us, we did not plead guilty, and appealed the sentence. Officials at the intermediate court dared not even to correct the wrong dates that had been put on the sentencing statement.

We were sent to Qinduankou Prison in Wuhan City in April 2004, and were brutally tortured there. The chief of Guards, Chen ordered five prisoners to lock me inside a small cell and to beat me with metal clubs and steel strips. They deprived me of sleep for a long period of time allowing me to rest only once every 2-3 days and used any conceivable mental and physical device to torture me. They tried to bring about my mental breakdown but my mind remained clear although I was severely wounded. At times, when I was particularly brutally tortured, I did not behave as well as I should have but as soon as I regained my energy, I would remember to safeguard the Fa. I have risked my life to stand up for Falun Dafa, and to destroy their evil plan.

I once wrote in prison, "Thought can never be changed by coercion; Falun Dafa has become part of my life." On my first day in the prison I wrote, "Falun Dafa is the Truth of the universe; Falun Dafa practitioners are innocent." Sometimes I did not do very well, but I learnt my lesson, strengthened my righteous thoughts, clarified the truth about Falun Dafa to people, and restrained the evil. Finally, they tried to tempt me to submit false statements to their supervisors by promising to reduce my term, but I did not collaborate with them.

In November 2003, officials from the 610 Office came to check on the prisoners. We shared the miracle of Falun Dafa, face to face with the 610 Office personnel, thus safeguarding Falun Dafa. I told them, "Cultivation is my life's pursuit; Falun Dafa is my life, how can I change this?" This was the best thing I had done since I entered the prison. The 610 Office personnel were angry. In July of 2003, staff from the Shiyan City 610 Office came to interrogate me, trying to force me provide information about a fellow Falun Dafa practitioner in New York. I was not moved by their threats and I absolutely refused.

Whenever practitioners' managed to safeguard the Fa inside the prison, it became hot news. During a meeting in December of 2003, practitioners shouted "Falun Dafa is good!" This marked the turning of a new page of Fa validation inside the prison. From then on, practitioners used many ways, based on their own situations to validate the Fa. The prison administration met with me in March of 2004, and I took the opportunity to completely clarify the truth to the Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee, exposing the persecution, expressing Falun Dafa practitioners' standpoints, and helping him understand us to good effects.

We are very glad to hear that our fellow practitioners in Shiyan are doing very well! It is our glory to be able to be Falun Dafa practitioners during the Fa-rectification period .

I wrote to my family earlier, "You know my character. I love my family; I sincerely want to be a good son. You all clearly understand my life-long pursuit of the truth. Now, I love the truth even more, and nothing can change my faith to which I enlightened through my life's practise."

I am writing this letter to you in the hopes that you are explaining the truth about the lies and fabrications spread about Dafa to our fellow practitioners.

Greetings all my fellow practitioners!

Heshi!

Cai Zidong

(Dated October 29, 2004)

Note:

(1. The practitioner's hands are tied behind his back with one hand over the shoulder and the other hand against the lower back. The police then apply a great deal of force to pull the two hands toward one another and handcuff the two hands together.