The Persecution of Ms. Wang Lanting and Ms. Su Mingxia from Chengguan Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province

Ms. Wang Lanting Detained and Beaten

Ms. Wang Lanting is 65. She lives in Hongzidian Village, Chengguan Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. She started cultivating Falun Gong in 1998. In January 2000, she went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practise Falun Gong and to talk about the goodness of the practice. She was arrested while on Tiananmen Square and was sent to Pingshan County Beijing Office. Agents from the Pingshan County 610 Office¹ then took her to the Pingshan County Police Station. Police officer Hu Yuetao slapped her in the face very hard a few times and took 55 yuan², the only money she had. She was detained in a building hallway overnight. On the next day she was taken to the county detention centre and detained for a month. When she was caught practising the Falun Gong exercises in the detention centre, she was handcuffed to a window for three hours.

Because Ms. Wang put up posters exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in 2001, she was reported by people who didn't know the truth and detained in the county detention centre again. She was handcuffed and put into leg irons. She went on a hunger strike, and the restraints were removed. A month later, she was taken to a brainwashing centre, where she was handcuffed to a very large tree for three days and nights.

The food at the detention centre was very bad and the prisoners never had enough to eat. Each person was allowed to have one steamed bun per meal. They were not allowed to go to the toilet. One rainy day in the brainwashing centre, Ms. Wang was discovered doing the exercises in her cell by Director Hou Cunli. Hou incited Zhang Xingang, over 20, a hired thug from Xinin Village. Zhang seized Ms. Wang and shoved her outdoors. It took a long time for her to get on her feet again.

One morning around 2:00 a.m. in early September, Zhao Shuyun discovered that Ms. Wang had urinated on the cell floor. Zhao dragged her outside of the cell, and ordered eight thugs to put her on top of a two-metre-tall pile of chairs and benches. They were unable to do that, so they angrily beat and kicked her. Zhang Xingang also stood on her shoulder and kicked her repeatedly. The elderly woman was tortured for more than four hours by the young gangsters. She was so badly injured that she was bedridden for over three weeks before she could stand up.

Ms. Su Mingxia Tells about Her Persecution Experiences

My name is Su Mingxia. I am 41 and live in Zhongbailou Village, Chengguan Town, Pingshan County, Hebei Province. I first learned Falun Gong in 1998. Before I started practising Falun Gong, I had many illnesses. However, I became free from illnesses after I studied Falun Gong.

On July 20th, 1999, Jiang Zemin's, [former leader of China and instigator of the persecution] group began the coordinated persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Subsequently, six of us went to Beijing to petition for Falun Gong and to explain the benefits of the practice. The local police arrested us when we arrived at Gaobeidian. Later, agents of the Pingshan County 610 Office took us back to the county police station. The police searched us and robbed us of all our money and valuables. Our bicycles were also confiscated by the police officers. The police also fined each of us 150 yuan and then released us.

Because I once practised Falun Gong outside of the county police station, political and security chief Feng Qingfang and five police officers dragged me to the police station. They beat and kicked me, knocking me to the floor. They stepped on my legs, resulting in black and blue bruises all over my body. They also burned me with cigarettes, tried to force me to insult Falun Gong, and so on.

Note

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.

2. "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/2008/5/26/179176.html