(Clearwisdom.net) In the eight years of the persecution of Falun Gong, practitioner Ms. Zhao Fengzhi and other members of her family from Jiaohe City in Jilin Province have remained steadfast in their faith in Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. Based on China's Constitution, they went to the government to appeal for justice for Falun Gong. Agents from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) persecuted them ruthlessly. As a result, Ms. Zhao's husband died, and she and her son were sent to a forced labor camp a combined total of four times. They were also sent to a brainwashing center several times. They were robbed and fined, had their salaries cut, and were dismissed from work. The family's total economic loss was more than 100,000 yuan.

Mr. Cui Yuchen, Ms. Zhao Fengzhi and their son Mr. Cui Song were a family of three school teachers. After Falun Gong was introduced in Jiaohe, all three of them became practitioners. Ms. Zhao and her husband Cui Yuchen received remarkable health benefits. Their many illnesses, such as periodic paralysis, premature heartbeat and atrophic gastroenteritis (inflammation and deterioration of the stomach and the intestines), all disappeared. With their raised moral standard, they lived a principled life, following Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance. They set strict parameters in their daily lives and treated everyone with kindness. They became truly healthy in body and spirit.

After the CCP began to persecute Falun Gong, Cui Yuchen and his family insisted on telling their relatives and friends the facts about Falun Gong, so these people would not be fooled by the CCP's lies. On February 17, 2000, Zhao Fengzhi and her son decided to exercise their constitutional rights and went to Beijing to appeal and tell the government the facts. Beijing police arrested them and returned them forcibly to their hometown. The police even confiscated 1,600 yuan from them without issuing a receipt. Back in Jiaohe, local policeman Li Guoliang beat them during an interrogation and sent them to a brainwashing center for more than one month. They were each forced to pay 3,000 yuan. Jiaohe Training School principal Sun Jihai and school Party secretary Pan Shouxia decided to dismiss Cui Song from his job.

On the evening of September 4, 2000, policeman Li Guoliang and the residential association head broke into Zhao Fengzhi's home. After they found some Falun Gong books, they took all three family members to the Changan Street Police Station.

On October 4, 2000, citing "appeal prevention," Changan Street Party secretary Li Xiaofei organized a brainwashing session at the Forestry Hotel. The police took all three members of Zhao Fengzhi's family into custody, along with more than 20 other practitioners. Cui Song was at that time preparing for his wedding, but that did not stop the authorities from fining him 2,000 yuan as a "guarantee."

On November 14, 2000, Ms. Zhao Fengzhi went to Beijing to appeal again. On her way to Beijing, she was stopped at the Tianjin Bus Terminal. Officers returned her to her hometown on November 27 and sentenced her to two years of forced labor on November 28. While incarcerated at the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Changchun, the guards forbade her to practice Falun Gong and physically abused and mentally tormented her. In addition, she had to do 17 hours of hard labor every day. The long-term harsh torture caused her to have a heart attack. The officials released her on medical parole on December 11, 2001. During those two years of her deprivation of freedom, the police took 20 percent of her pension money, and CCP agents cut all annual raises and other benefits.

Cui Song went to Changchun to visit his mother in May 2001, during her labor camp term, and read a Falun Gong book on the train. For this reason alone, the railroad police detained him for 15 days. In July 2001, Cui Song was being considered for appointment of a teaching assignment. But when someone discovered that he had read a Falun Gong book on the train, they laid him off again. That left him with only a 120-yuan monthly living stipend.

On February 19, 2002, Jiaohe Training School laid Cui Song off for the third time, citing his record of the 15-days detention. Cui Song was by now a father, and his wife had also been laid off. To support the family, he left school and did some odd jobs. The school principal Pan Shouxia accused him of "not obeying school discipline" and informed the city 610 Office. On April 25, 2002, officials at the 610 Office sent policemen Li Guoliang and Sun Jianguo to Cui Song's house to do a search. They found some Falun Gong books and a computer, which they used as "criminal evidence." Sun Jianguo also took an mp3 player from Cui Song but did not include it in the receipt.

The 610 Office agents and police decided to send Cui Song to one year of forced labor. Cui Song suffered from brutal treatment at the Yinmahe Forced Labor Camp in Jiutai County. The guards made him sit on a narrow bench for a long time, sent him to a solitary confinement cell, bound him with handcuffs, and subjected him to many other kinds of physical abuse. They arbitrarily extended his term by five months. During the 17 months of Cui Song's incarceration, his parents went to visit him six times, but only saw him once. The other five times they were turned away. The guards even made up rumors, saying Falun Gong practitioners do not care about family.

On January 19, 2004 (three days before the Chinese New Year), when the family was preparing for the Chinese New Year, Changan Street Police Station officials sent Li Guoliang and seven other policemen to Zhao Fengzhi's home. After the police deceived them into opening the door, they did an illegal house search and seized Zhao Fengzhi and sent her to a detention center.

After repeated unsuccessful appeals for lack of legal protection, Cui Song and his wife published the police brutality facts with outside media and looked for international support. The story included how policeman Li Guoliang deceived and arrested his mother, and how the 610 Office chief Zhang Yuhe beat Cui Song's father Cui Yuchen. To punish Cui Song, the police arrested him, beat him and sent him to a forced labor camp again for two years.

During his second labor camp detention, Jiutai Labor Camp authorities refused Cui Song's parents their right to visit their son, because they were also Falun Gong practitioners.

Police brutality left Cui Yuchen physically and mentally traumatized. His son's detention in a forced labor camp worried him greatly. Eight years of leading a stressful life, took a toll on his health. In July 2004, he began to feel some early symptoms of a stroke. After one month of studying the Fa and practicing Falun Gong diligently, he recovered. But in the following year and a half, Cui Yuchen could not keep up his regular practice and study because of the constant police harassment. He also worried about the imminent danger his wife and son were facing, in addition to his own safety. His health gradually deteriorated. He suffered another stoke and died on December 29, 2005.

Family and relatives petitioned the forced labor camp officials to allow Cui Song to pay a final visit to his father before cremation, but it was denied.

During the eight years of persecution of Falun Gong, Zhao Fengzhi's family suffered huge losses: Cui Yuchen died, and Ms. Zhao and her son were sent to forced labor and brainwashing sessions several times. They were charged a large amount of money for their lodging and food in forced detention. Each time they were detained or sent to a labor camp, officials from the 610 Office deducted 1,000 yuan from their paychecks. The total fine was 23,000 yuan. Including Cui Song's lost employment opportunities, their total financial loss was as much as 100,000 yuan.

After Cui Song's 2006 release from the labor camp, he went back to the Training School and asked for a teaching position. Principal Zhang Donglu refused his request without a good reason. After Cui Song's repeated requests, the school told him to contact the city Education Department. Education Department head Sun Pingsheng told Cui Song that per instructions from the 610 Office, they could not offer him a job.

The suffering Zhao Fengzhi and her family have endured is only one story among numerous persecution stories of Falun Gong practitioners.

September 5, 2007

Chinese version available at http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2007/9/6/162221.html