An Elderly Woman in Changsha City, Hunan Province Is Illegally Sentenced to Nine Years in Prison for Practicing Falun Gong

(Clearwisdom.net) My name is Zou Jin. I am a 70-year-old female Falun Gong practitioner from Changsha Ciy, Hunan Province, China. I used to have high blood pressure, had suffered a stroke, a heart attack, gallstones, and sciatica. In short, I suffered from numerous ailments, but they disappeared after I started to practice Falun Gong. After Jiang Zemin began the persecution of Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, I was abducted and illegally detained in prison because I was determined to practice Falun Gong. In the horrible prison environment, not only did my old ailments resurface, but I started to suffer from new ones. With a meager 300 Yuan (1) monthly pension as my only income, how could I afford medical treatment if I am denied the right to practice Falun Gong? As a result, I now suffer from the torment of multiple ailments, all because of the persecution by Jiang's regime.

I was fortunate to learn Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) in 1997, and have continued to practice since that time. Soon after beginning the practice, all of my illnesses went away without a trace. I felt like a new person, illness free. I was immensely grateful for what Falun Gong had done for me, so I tried to introduce Falun Gong to as many people as possible so that more people could benefit from this wonderful cultivation practice.

On July 20, 1999, less than two years after I had begun practicing, Jiang Zemin began his senseless persecution against Falun Gong. The local police then falsely accused me of "disrupting social order" because I distributed truth-clarification materials to other people. On February 20, 2001, police officer Lei Zhen from the Jingwanzi Police Station in Yuhua District, Changsha City brought six of his fellow officers to my home, and deceived me into going to the police station. At the police station, Lei Zhen threatened me while trying to get me to sign a "Guarantee Statement." When I refused, he violently slammed the desks and chairs around, trying to terrify me. At that time I lacked sufficient righteous thoughts, so I succumbed to Lei Zhen and signed the Guarantee Statement. The police set up an interrogation room and took turns interrogating me for three consecutive days and nights. Even the head and chairman of the Jingwanzi Police Station came to interrogate me. They deprived a 70-year-old woman like me of sleep! When they had exhausted all means to force me to tell them the names of my fellow Falun Gong practitioners and the source of the truth-clarification materials in my possession, they used a "Reformed" ex-Falun Gong practitioner to assist them. This "Reformed" woman wanted her prison term reduced, so she lied to the police. She told the police that I was the person who supplied her with the truth-clarification materials the police had found while ransacking her home. Right before my illegal trial she told me what she had done. She said, "I have done terrible things to you, and now my family and I have met karmic retribution. My son is suffering from a severe illness and my mother has been diagnosed with cancer."

Immediately after I was deceived into going to the Jingwanzi Police Station, the police illegally ransacked my home. They confiscated more than 200 small flyers with the message, "Falun Dafa is good," and stole about 3,000 Yuan and a bankbook showing a 1,500 Yuan balance. Lei Zhen repeatedly said to me, "I can make a major case out of this, or I can turn a blind eye to everything. What do you say?" He was suggesting that I should buy my freedom.

After the police interrogated me for three days and nights, they transferred me directly to the Changsha City No. 1 Detention Center. Again, the police there tried to make me turn in my fellow practitioners and the source of the truth-clarification materials in my possession. They cursed at me and they tried to threaten me, but I was impervious to their threats and curses. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts, and kept thinking to myself, "I am a Falun Dafa disciple. I have not committed any crimes. It is a noble cause to distribute truth-clarification materials and have people know the truth about Falun Gong." In one of the many interrogation sessions, the police barked at me fiercely, "If you refuse to cooperate with us, we will make sure that you die in jail and that your body becomes dog food!" Because the police could not get any information from me or extort any money from me, they presented the prosecutor with cooking knives and a whetstone as evidence of a crime I had no knowledge of. And so I was sentenced to nine years in prison on the charge of "Obstruction of Justice."

At the illegal trial, I questioned the judge and the prosecutor: "You have already ransacked my home so you know I have no copying machine or printer. How could I possibly produce such a large number of flyers? These people are supposed to be public servants, and their salaries come from taxpayers. However, they violate the law and bully an innocent elderly woman such as me. I have heard before that Jiang Zemin ordered his henchmen to persecute Falun Gong practitioners according to the following policy: 'Defame their reputation, bankrupt them financially, and destroy them physically.' Now I realize it's true because all the police officers I met have fully abided by this policy." The judge and the prosecutor heard my defense statement and wrote it down, but they still sentenced me to nine years in prison. When I was sent back to Changsha City's No. 1 Detention Center, even the police officers there thought the sentence was unreasonable, and suggested that I appeal.

My health declined day by day in prison. After being incarcerated and suffering hardships in prison for more than one year, my health deteriorated to a critical state. On the evening of March 24, 2003, I was on the verge of death and was hurried on a stretcher to Changsha City's No. 3 Hospital for emergency resuscitation. I was skin and bones, and barely breathing. The prison staff notified my family to start preparing for my funeral. The hospital discovered that several illnesses had surfaced at the same time, that were very likely going to claim my life. They notified my family three times that I was dying and asked them to prepare for the worst. The prison was afraid of being held responsible, so they quickly released me on the condition that I would serve my term outside of prison.

My family took me home from the hospital, and two weeks later, when they went to the hospital to sign the patient release form, the hospital staff thought I had already passed away. They were so shocked to hear that I could get out of bed, walk, and eat normally. I suppose a marvelous phenomenon such as my miraculous survival will always strike non-practitioners as incredible. Only cultivators understand that it is the result of my steadfast faith in Falun Dafa, my righteous thoughts, the mighty power of Falun Dafa, and Teacher Li Hongzhi's compassionate protection.

Nevertheless, I am still suffering from the persecution. It has been more than a year since I returned home. I am an elderly widow with no income. I was supposed to receive a monthly financial compensation but it was stolen from me. While I was detained in the detention center and prison, the factory where I had once worked had not stopped issuing me a monthly check. But a staff member from the Political and Legal Committee in Tianxin District, a Mr. Li, pretended to be a family member, and claimed more than 3,000 Yuan from the factory. I learned of his fraud only after I returned home. I asked the secretary of the Neighborhood Administration Office in my area, Mr. Zou, to settle this matter on my behalf, and I checked with Mr. Zou from time to time, but I still have not been able to get my money back. I feel very anxious because I need to pay back the money I borrowed for my medical expenses. Then I asked the factory if they could continue to issue me my monthly checks, but they told me that they cannot pay an employee on medical prison leave without orders from upper management. Even a prisoner on Death Row is given food, but I, as a person on medical bail, seem to have even less rights than a prisoner on Death Row. How am I going to support myself? For over a year I have lived on the charity of my friends and relatives, but this is not a long-term solution.

Because I practice Falun Dafa, I should maintain kind thoughts and think positively. I thought perhaps that the reason why the fraud hasn't been settled might be that the staff at the Neighborhood Administration Office handling these matters is overwhelmed with cases. I don't think I have ever been a nuisance to them, or disrupted their work. I simply followed the standard procedure by filing a complaint with them. However, when the Neighborhood Administration Office received my very first complaint, they were unsympathetic to my dilemma and didn't try to solve the problem. Instead, they cursed at me and lectured me. Some of my neighbors with righteous spirits felt compelled to write additional complaints on my behalf. They must have sent the Neighborhood Administration Office six or seven complaints, but they got no responses.

After being at home for over a year, I decided that I must not slack off despite my financial crisis. I must follow Teacher's teaching and do the three things well: Study the Fa (2), send forth righteous thoughts, and clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. When I learned that folks in my hometown in Zhuzhou County, Hunan Province had not learned the truth about Falun Gong, I decided that I must share it with them one way or another. On March 26, 2004 I went to the countryside in Zhuzhou County with my nephew's wife. Before I got off the bus, I left behind a few copies of truth-clarification materials for other passengers to read. Unfortunately, a passenger who saw the truth-clarification materials reported to the local police, and the information led the police to my relative's home in Zhuzhou. The local police ransacked my relative's home and found several copies of truth-clarification materials, so they handcuffed her and brought her to the local police station to be interrogated. Because my relative in Zhuzhou was not yet a Falun Gong practitioner, she told the police that she had received the materials from me, and told them my address in Changsha City.

At about 3:00 a.m. on March 28, 2004, four police officers suddenly showed up and ransacked my home without a search warrant. They left nothing untouched and made a terrible mess, but they failed to find any truth-clarification materials. However, they found the court's sentence order and the bail document, and confiscated both. By 4:00 a.m. I was in a conference room at the Zhuzhou County Public Security Bureau. At around 8:00 a.m. the police officers entered the room and tried to force me to tell them information concerning my fellow Falun Gong practitioners and the source of the truth-clarification materials that I had given to my relative in Zhuzhou County. I was fearless. I kept my lips sealed, and concentrated on sending forth righteous thoughts. At around 11:00 a.m. they gave up interrogating me. When they ordered me to sign a document, I refused. From the beginning I had very strong righteous thoughts. I know I am a Falun Dafa disciple and I shall not deviate from the Fa at any time. Then suddenly I remembered Teacher's words:

I told the police that because I am a practitioner of Falun Gong, I try to be kind in all situations. My relative in Zhuzhou County is very hot tempered and often gets into disagreements and altercations. I advised her not to let her temper get the better of her, and try to walk away when people curse her. When she told me that she couldn't possibly walk away, I produced for her some Falun Gong materials that might help her be more tolerant and forgiving. I told the policeman exactly what I had said to my relative, but he wrote in the record that the kindness-promoting Falun Gong materials that I had given my relative contained content that was anti-Chinese ruling Party and anti-Chinese society. I then asked the police officer to erase the false information and write down the facts instead, and he made the correction accordingly.

I had been at the police station for 16 hours when some neighbors picked me up. During that time, I was denied food and water, but I didn't feel hungry at all. I decided there must be a reason for this tribulation. So I searched inward and discovered many attachments. Because I failed to follow Teacher's teachings in many aspects, the evil and rotten demons from other dimensions exploited my loopholes. Teacher has taught us that we walk on a very narrow cultivation path. Stray but a little and we will fall, and ruin our cultivation. Although I ended up returning home safely, I decided that it was because of Teacher's protection that I escaped from the detention center, and that I must study the Fa more diligently and eliminate my attachments through cultivation practice.

When I returned home, I discovered that the police from Zhuzhou County Precinct had already set up a network of undercover surveillance officers on both the upper and lower floors of my apartment building, around the building, and on the streets near my home. They took turns watching me around the clock. By now it should be clear to everyone why the cost of the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners is 1/4 of the national revenue! It appears that the Zhuzhou County Police are depraved. A week after March 28, the Zhuzhou County police told Changsha City's Public Security Bureau that I had gone to Zhuzhou County to distribute truth-clarification materials on March 26. One day around 3:00 p.m., about seven police officers came to my home and ordered me to pack for prison. I did not panic nor was I afraid. I said to these police officers, "Heaven will punish you for persecuting innocent people."

While I was packing up daily necessities and clothes, I thought, "I shall return home in no time." I kept sending forth righteous thoughts with a peaceful mind, when a neighbor stepped out and reproached the police officers. "She is a 70-year-old widow! She lives alone, has illnesses, and has no one to care for her! And she even has difficulty walking! Can you be less depraved? Do you have any heart! Do you have any conscience?" All the police officers avoided looking at my neighbor and could not utter a word. My neighbors watched me getting into the police car as they continued to reproach the police.

I didn't say anything in the police car. I kept sending forth righteous thoughts. We arrived at Changsha City Detention Center around 4:00 p.m., but the staff there refused to admit me to their facility. The police had no choice but to call their supervisor at Yuhua Precinct and wait for his instruction. By 6:00 p.m. they hadn't heard from him, and I thought at first it was the result of my righteous thoughts, but then I thought it must have been Teacher's protection. I remembered that I was Teacher's disciple and I should not deviate from the Fa at any time. I called for Teacher in my heart, asking for his help. "Teacher! Your disciple is now in the hands of the police. Please protect me and send me home." It was past 6:00 p.m., but the detention center still refused to take me. Soon it was past 7:00 p.m., but the police refused to give up. They called Changsha City's No. 1 Detention Center, but they refused to take me too. Next, they called Changsha Women's Prison, and received the same reply. At around 11:00 p.m., the police officers and the depraved judge that had sentenced me to nine years in prison got into the car and tried to frighten me. They told me, "You'd better not to try to distribute truth-clarification materials a second time." I told them that there wouldn't be second time. I meant they would not have a second chance to persecute me. They also asked me to promise not to persuade anyone that Falun Dafa is good, but I ignored them. It was after midnight when the police finally drove me home. They had failed to send me to prison.

The following day when my neighbors saw me, they all asked me what had happened the night before. I told them how the police had repeatedly tried to send me to prison illegally, but failed. Everyone shook their head, disapproving of the depraved acts of the Jiang Zemin regime.

(1) Yuan is the Chinese currency. The average monthly salary of an urban worker in China is 500 Yuan.

(2) Fa: Law and principles; the teachings of Falun Dafa.

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