My name is Yang Zhilan. I am a woman of 58 years and live in Hengyang City. I am a retired official from the Youth Club at Hengyang City.
I started practising Falun Gong in 1995. Between 2000 and 2005, I was arrested four times and illegally held in detention centres and the city's No.2 holding cell. I suffered all kinds of torture during police custody.
1. My First Arrest and Illegal Detention (February-March, 2000)
I went to Beijing, petitioning the central government not to senselessly suppress Falun Gong. A person brought me back from Zhengzhou City, and sent me to a detention centre, where I was kept for over 20 days. I had to pay for the whole trip for both of us, costing over 3000 yuan1. My work unit bailed me out with 3000 yuan, but got no receipt. When I went to work, my supervisor told me that according to instructions from above, I was to get only 300 yuan as three months' salary; and with the deductions of pubic fund and pension, I could actually receive a little over 70 yuan per month--a total financial loss of more than 10,000 yuan.
2. My Second Arrest and Illegal Detention
The day before the Chinese New Year of 2001, four or five policemen Qingshan Street Police Station picked me up at my work and illegally held me in custody for 113 days without going through any proper procedures.
Practising Falun Dafa did not make me a criminal, and there was no evidence proving I had committed any crimes. Yet, the police extended my detention period wilfully and did not release me until I was kept there for 113 days. It caused me a financial loss of more than 6000 yuan, which include 2200 yuan daily expenses (20 yuan/day), 2000 yuan release fee--extortion from the police, and 2000 yuan being a four-month salary loss.
3. My Third Arrest and Illegal Detention
The police at the Plaza Precinct of Hengyang City arrested me on a tip while I was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution, and kept me in custody for 15 days. At the precinct, a young officer beat me savagely, grabbing me by the hair and repeatedly throwing me against the wall. He kicked me ferociously, and I was not allowed even to sit for the whole night. The pain in my head lasted for a year.
Fifteen days after I was in detention, my husband got me out, spending over 4000 yuan as "asking-for-favour fees".
4. My Fourth Arrest and Detention
On December 9th, 2004, Li Shaozheng, Zhou, instructor Qiu and a couple of others from the police branch at Shigu District picked me up at my work and took me home, and illegally searched my house.
Illegal Search of My House
They took my Falun Gong books. These books, with publishing numbers and copyright registration, are not illegal publications. I bought them from the Xinhua Bookshop, and they are my personal property and should be returned to me.
They took two radios and tapes. They are also my personal property and should be returned to me as well.
They took my salary statements and bank books.
They did not give me a list of what they had taken.
They extorted from me 2000 yuan and did not give me a receipt.
The police branch at Shigu District blatantly violated citizens' residence and property rights.
B. My Detention at the Police Branch of Shigu District
During interrogation, an officer suddenly entered the room, striking my face violently. I moved backward a few steps. The officer barked, "You don't want to tell us, eh? But we have ways to make you talk." Later, they lied, saying they'd never used violence.
C. Torture I Suffered while Illegally Kept at the No.2 Detention Centre of Hengyang City
(a) Mental assault. The guard asked a dozen or so inmates to stand around me, shouting obscene words toward me, cursing Dafa and Teacher Li.
(b) Forced administration of medicine. Five or six individuals pinned me down, holding tightly my hands, head, and feet. They pinched my mouth and grasped my vital parts. There were bruises all over my face and body, with a few areas bleeding and my mouth swollen.
(c) Two forced feedings of salt water. Deputy director Lei, section chief Zhou, head guard and female officer Liu, two guards and two police officers muscled me down on my back and force-fed me. I felt a constant burning sensation in my mouth and chest for half a month after that. My heart has not recovered from that feeling since.
(d) Forced feeding. A doctor kept my mouth open with a metal tool, while I was forced to lie on my back, by six or seven individuals. When the feeding tube was inserted, streams of blood came out and my whole body lost feeling. I seemed to have heard the doctor saying that it was dangerous to force-feed with salt water. I still feel the pain in all my teeth.
(e) Forced injection. Both my hands were swollen from injections by police.
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/2005/11/4/113739.html
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