Three Falun Dafa Practitioners from Liaoning Province Died as a Result of the Persecution

1. Mr. Meng Zhaochun was a resident of Dadianzi Village, Sandaohezi Town. He persisted in his cultivation after the persecution started. The local police harassed him many times, which caused him great stress. On April 24, 2002, the police pressured him into signing a "Guarantee Statement." (1)The ongoing mental and physical torture led to Mr. Meng's early death on April 28, 2002.

2. Mr. Li Zongzheng was a 75 year old resident of Nianfang Village, Goumenzi Town. In 1997, after he started to practise Falun Dafa, he recovered from many illnesses. On July 20, 1999, he went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Dafa. He was arrested by the police when he returned home. The police ordered Mr. Li to slander Falun Dafa in front of a television camera. The police threatened to extend his detention, ransack his home, and extort money if he did not comply with their demands. In this way he was recorded swearing at Dafa. Mr. Li's mind and body were severely affected by the persecution. Finally the police extorted money from his family members and released him from detention. After he returned home, village and town officials often harassed him, preventing him from practising the exercises or studying the teachings regularly. In 2003, Pang Yujun, head of the township 610 Office (2), printed some kind of "transformation certificate" and used it to threaten and extort 5 yuan (3) from every practitioner in town. When Pang went to Mr. Li's home to extort the money, Mr. Li reasoned with him and refused to give him the money. Pang would not listen to Mr. Li and threatened him with further brainwashing or detention. Li turned over the money, but he suffered greatly in his mind for it. He died of stomach cancer in July 2003.

3. Practitioner Mr. Dong Rui was a 66 year old villager who lived in Lingyuan City, Liaoning Province. He used to suffer from many illnesses, such as gastric illnesses, rheumatism in his leg, and some nervous system diseases and disorders. Although he took many kinds of medicines, his physical condition did not improve. Tormented by the illnesses, he developed a bad temper. After he started to cultivate Falun Dafa in 1998, both his mind and body changed dramatically. He attained good health and became high-spirited. He changed into a completely different person. He said to people around him, "Falun Dafa has completely changed me." After the persecution started, each township official was assigned a few practitioners to be responsible for. The officials monitored the practitioners and asked them to sign "Guarantee Statements." Practitioners who refused to comply were arrested and illegally detained in forced labour camps, or sentenced to jail terms. Because Mr. Dong was afraid of the persecution, he stopped practising Falun Gong. Before long, his illnesses came back. He did everything in his power to become healthy again and spent a lot of money on medical treatment, yet his condition did not improve. None of the doctors could identify the diseases. He was in great pain.

On May 10, 2002, around 1 p.m., ten people from the Hekanzi Town 610 Office, including the township police station Chief Zheng Yi, broke into Dong Rui's home. At that time, Dong Rui was alone at home. The police asked him if he had been practising Falun Gong, and about the source of the Falun Dafa sticker on his wall. Dong Rui said that he had found the sticker on the street. Zheng did not believe him. The officials asked Mr. Dong about other practitioners in the village, threatening to arrest him if he did not tell them. The persecutors ransacked his home and found nothing but 150 yuan cash. The village party secretary said, "We cannot take the money, otherwise Dong's two sons will give us trouble on their return." (Mr. Dong's two sons were working out of town). When Zheng Yin wanted to arrest Mr. Dong, the village party secretary persuaded him not to. Before the persecutors left, Zheng said loudly to Mr. Dong, "Think carefully about this. I will give you three days to tell us the truth. I will come back in three days and arrest you if you don't tell us at that time."

Shocked, the old man could not stand on his legs, and he could not speak a word. The threats made him lose his appetite and he could not sleep a wink. The next day, he went to his sister's place and told her about the incident. In the early morning, three days after he was threatened, someone found that he had killed himself. He had taken poison during the night.

Note:

(1) "Guarantee Statement": A statement to declare that one is remorseful for practising Falun Gong and guarantees not to practise Falun Gong again, not to go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and never again associate with any Falun Dafa practitioners.

(2) "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.

(3) "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.org/mh/articles/2005/5/18/102014.html