(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: Ms. Chen Jing, a talented college graduate, was subjected to persecution in her early 20s, simply for upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She was placed under house arrest in college and threatened with expulsion and imprisonment. After she graduated she was fired from her good job in a hospital. She was forced to move around to avoid persecution and lived in fear for years. When she was 37, she was arrested, then sentenced to five years in prison. She was subjected to various kinds of brutal torture in detention centers and prison.

Ms. Chen Jing

Ms. Chen recounts in detail how she was persecuted both physically and mentally.

(Continued from Part 4)

Support from the Outside 

The prison chief Tao Shuping called me to her office one day in July 2018. I was surprised since I tried for a long time to find an opportunity to report to her about my mistreatment in prison. I seized this opportunity to express my true thoughts. She pretended to be calm, but could not hide her nervousness.

I was summoned to the prison chief’s office again the following month. A visitor, likely from the provincial police department, was there. Chief Tao Shuping, and deputy chief Wang Shanshan spoke respectfully to him. I guessed that I was summoned there to be “educated” by this visitor. I told him directly that the prison guards and the inmates had done all of what he intended to do already, but to no avail, and he had no need to say anything today.

Tao called me to her office again a few days later. She looked angry and rebuked me for hiring a lawyer to sue the prison and the prison administration. She asked me to immediately dismiss the lawyer, threatening to torture me every day like when I first arrived.

I was shocked to hear this but at the same time, I felt excited and encouraged. I knew other practitioners hired the lawyer for me and were continuing to seek justice for me. I was completely cut off from the outside world for more than a year. In the environment filled with lies and violence, the news that I was represented again by a lawyer gave me tremendous encouragement and hope. I told her firmly and calmly that I was innocent so I needed a lawyer to appeal and I had the right to do so.

Tao asked me what the lawyer exactly intended to do. Since I did not know myself as I hadn’t been allowed to meet my lawyer, I told her my three requests: Press charges against the police who tortured me and voided my testimony; charge the police who broke into my house, which led to the loss of my personal belongings; and remove all the charges against me, as I did not commit a crime by practicing Falun Gong. 

Although I was never allowed to see my lawyer, I was encouraged by the news and gained more strength to continue remaining steadfast despite the persecution.

Sympathy for the Perpetrators

As part of the long-term torture, my movements were restricted. When I was forced to sit on a small stool one day in February 2019, I suddenly had a severe pain in one of my legs and I could not walk. The pain was so severe that I could not sleep for 15 days. I became bedridden for three months. I tried not to eat or drink so I wouldn’t bother others for help when I needed to go to the toilet. Later, I encouraged myself to practice the meditation exercises and I miraculously recovered.

Because I refused to do the labor work, the inmate head of my group, Li Qiujun, reported me to the prison chief and blamed me for affecting their transformation of other Falun Gong practitioners.

I was transferred to another group in October. The new inmates’ leader, Chen Hulan, was known to violently beat up prison guards. No inmates wanted to be in her group so only two inmates were under her when I was taken there.

To freeze me all night, Chen forced me to sleep on the top bunk next to the open window and I was unable to sleep. One day, the section head inmate, Han Lijun rushed into my cell and punched me for no reason. Two other inmates Li Guimei and Jing Shaoqin also entered my cell and pushed me into a corner that was a blind spot for the CCTV monitor. They and Chen were about to beat me, but I spoke sternly and stopped them.

I started a hunger strike and demanded to see the prison chief and asked to be transferred to another group. Later, I was transferred to the new admission group under head inmate Duan Heng, also a violent person who was dating Yang Xu. On my first night, she ordered the inmates Zhang Jian, Shi Chenliu and Wu Jie to beat me. My head was swollen and my front ribs were injured. It took more than two weeks for the pain to ease.

I reasoned with Duan: “I did not commit any crimes, so I won’t participate in any prison activities. The guards didn’t order you to persecute Falun Gong practitioners, so you should not do it. It is destiny that we meet here, so we should treat each other with courtesy, and live together peacefully.” She agreed.

But the prison guards intentionally caused difficulty for me because I refused to say I was a prison inmate. I was not allowed to spend more than 90 yuan per month. But everything was significantly marked up – a bag of toilet paper was 25 yuan; a bag of sanitary napkins was 11 yuan; laundry soap was 5.5 yuan; and toothpaste was 22 yuan. The prison did not provide enough food but I could not purchase anything extra to eat. For a while I was dizzy due to constant hunger.

However, no matter what I went through, I still treated people around me with kindness. I did not develop hatred towards Yang Bo and Li Zhongyi when they abused me after I was first incarcerated there. Under the guidance of Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, I treated them with compassion. I overcame great difficulties and I became firm and mature in my cultivation. At the same time, I developed sympathy for those people who persecuted me. I cherished this special bond with them, because I knew they were the real victims of the persecution.

Many people learned the truth about Falun Gong after they got to know me and heard about my experiences. They realized that practitioners were not like how the CCP’s propaganda on TV portrayed. One person told me, “You are so young and beautiful with a good education and nice manners, but you have experienced so much hardship. When the persecution ends, how much do you want the perpetrators to compensate you?” I smiled, “If they repent of their evil deeds, and make up for their mistakes with righteous actions, I won’t ask for a single penny.”

Father’s Notes

Thinking back on the difficult years my family went through, they also endured a lot. My parents, in their 70s, two ordinary but kind people, struggled to travel to Jiamusi and Harbin, in and out of police stations, detention centers, and prisons. My mother thus ended up in the hospital and my father looked after her. But they both still worried about me.

With their strong willpower, they faced those people who did things unreasonably and illegally, and endured countless sleepless nights. Because there was nowhere to seek justice, my old father recorded his thoughts. He wrote,

“My daughter’s personal experience made me see clearly the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP), anti-humanity. Their so-called ‘humane management’ of imprisoned practitioners is a complete lie. When my daughter remained firm in her faith after they used up all of their tactics, they tore off the mask of hypocrisy.

“I never had any hope for them. At the beginning of my daughter’s detention, they asked me to visit her, and used me to persuade her to compromise. Behind their hypocritical faces, I felt their cruel intentions and their beast-like true colors. Our family’s peaceful life was completely shattered, and we were suddenly plunged into an abyss of pain. We couldn’t sleep at night and we were in tears all the time, wishing for our daughter to get out of the evil place as soon as possible. So many times we wept silently - it is difficult to be a good person in this society. I only hope that my daughter can watch out and act wisely, otherwise she will be tortured to death!

“When we were desperate and helpless, practitioners extended their warm hands, supporting us financially and comforting us, even though they were under all kinds of pressure themselves. Their persistent efforts to save people deeply touched us. They are not our relatives but acted more than relatives, with Falun Dafa binding us together. In contrast, the evil CCP members persecuted practitioners in a frenzy. But their aggressive behavior is just their last struggle before death. When the moment of justice arrives, they have nowhere to escape.

“Once again, I conjoin my hands and bow deeply to sincerely thank Falun Gong practitioners, whether we know them or not, local or from afar, for their selfless and fearless righteous thoughts and actions.”

No Peace After Release

My five years of unjust detention finally ended on January 21, 2021. I walked out of the prison gate with a battered body, but the terror did not stop.

To take care of my empty house in Jamusi, I bought a high-speed train ticket at the Daqing East Train Station at the beginning of March 2021. After I swiped my ID card and went through a series of security checks, three police officers stopped me and searched my bag. They also asked me to fill out a form with my phone number, address and workplace. With more than a month out of prison, no income, no fixed residence, or no job, I did not know how to answer their questions. I kept reasoning with them during that hour they held me. They kept reporting to their superior and asking for instructions, before they finally let me board the train.

The head of the local residential committee where my parents live called my parents several times at the beginning of April 2021. Then he came to my parents’ place to ask about my whereabouts. Knowing that I was still not cooperating, he threatened my parents, almost 80 years old, saying that they could lock me up for another three years.

Closing Words

My family and friends worried about me at the beginning – how I, a naive person, could deal with the chaos of life, from heaven to hell. But after experiencing all of it, I want to tell them: I am still the same me, but more rational and mature. I have not been doing anything for my personal benefit. Heaven always blesses good people.

I have no money and no power. I’m on the CCP authorities’ blacklist. My experience has made me believe that justice will prevail. As long as righteous people work together, we will be able to transcend this dark time.

I feel sad for those who participated in the persecution. Some of you were ordered to do it and passively became the CCP’s tools. Some of you carried out your tasks actively. No matter what your circumstances were, I understand you. However, I sincerely hope that you learn the truth and stop doing it, since I would hate to see you being held accountable in the future. From the bottom of my heart, I hope you act wisely and save yourselves.

The end.