(Clearwisdom.net)

[Continued]

Because I had always regarded myself as a Dafa practitioner, my name and my image cannot be associated with that of a criminal. I always turned down the requests [to have my photograph taken]. They didn't give up and tried to force me to admit guilt, and they said that admitting guilt is not in conflict with appealing. I would receive a sentence reduction and early release if I admitted guilt and I could appeal, do things and make more money after I got out.

One very wicked method they used was to take advantage of my mother's illness. My mother suffered from leukemia. They said to me, "If you plead guilty you can get out earlier and take care of her." I told them, "My trial itself is illegal. I shouldn't be here to begin with and I should not be incarcerated for even one day. You should release me unconditionally so I can take care of my mother. How can you force me to accept your unlawful trial and then be a good son? You are reversing right and wrong!"

Police officers from higher-ranking police departments tried to reason with me. Then they gave me small gifts such as candies and moon cakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival. These were made in the prison cafeteria and they were of poor quality. They thought that they were showing me care and were administrating their duties in a humane way. If I ignored their gifts, they would say that I'm cold and the Falun Gong practitioners are ungrateful. They played mind games with me this way. This was during the second phase when they tried to make me admit guilt and "bow to the law." Most of it was during 2004.

One time they forced me to take a criminals' behavior regulation test. I crossed out the word "criminal" on the test and wrote a solemn announcement, "I have never violated any law of China. I am not a criminal. I refuse to accept any of this." They started punishing me physically and emotionally. They forced me to sit without moving and repent. I had to sit from after breakfast until lunch. After lunch, others could take a nap (napping in the middle of the day is common in the Chinese system) and I still had to sit there until TV news time in the evening. Afterwards I had to sit for another 1.5 hours before I could wash and rest. I sat for 20 days.

They forced me to work, also a form of physical and emotional punishment. It is customary in Chinese prisons for the inmates to be subjected to forced labor. Detainees have to obey unconditionally, as refusal to obey would lead to immediate severe punishment. At first they didn't make me work because they wanted to make me give up my belief in Falun Gong by forcing me to attend brainwashing sessions. Later they saw that I was not going to give up my belief, so they tried to make me admit guilt and work along with the inmates. They said that all capable criminals must work. I didn't acknowledge the label "criminal," so I refused to work. They made me stand. If I moved they kicked me and verbally attacked and humiliated me in front of everyone.

They had a "public attack meeting," which is a Chinese Communist slogan that Americans may not know. A "public attack meeting" is held after the detainee had been forced to stand for a whole day. They psychologically abuse the detainee after he has been physically abused. They launched personal attacks against me using all kinds of insulting words. They accused me of having a poor character and that I dared to not work. Their attack was really vicious. One after another they carried out the "cartwheel attack." They also had a semiannual inmate appraisal in the middle and end of each year. I didn't participate during the first one and a half years.

In late 2004, they tried to link my name with a criminal through the appraisal. I refused and said I'm not a criminal and cannot take part in this activity. They forced me to sit. I asked to change the "inmate appraisal form" to "detainee appraisal form" because I was forced to sit in a prison even though I didn't commit any crimes. I said I could acknowledge the term "detainee" but not "inmate." They refused. I revised the form twenty times and didn't use the word "inmate." Under "admit guilt and follow the law" I wrote, "I have never accepted the illegal trial against me and I have never accepted the 'inmate' label." On the cover I wrote 'see inside', because I attached an announcement that I had written. This wasn't the end, however. They forced me to sit for 58 days. Later, I was under too much pressure and was exhausted after two years of persecution. I had symptoms of premature systoles. They finally stopped forcing me to sit and the battle surrounding the appraisal form was over.

After the second phase in the second year, they felt there was little hope that I was going to give up my belief. They became a little desperate but they continued to subject me to brainwashing. Since 2005, the brainwashing mostly consisted of "education in patriotism." They forced me to read the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) newspapers, which advocate lies about how the Party loves people and communist doctrine. The only goal is to manipulate people's love for their country to instill the thinking that the CCP equals China. They would accuse you of "not loving your country" if you disobeyed their rules or if you protested their persecution against you. They did this in the third year. They also forced me to watch patriotic propaganda films. Although they knew it was a futile effort, they still went through the motions.

Reporter: They said you disrupted Chinese laws. What do you think about that?

Charles Li: I think I can say that I have never violated any law of China from the beginning to the end. The CCP makes all the laws in China. The Chinese constitution says that Chinese citizens have freedom of speech and freedom of belief, but all of these rights stipulated in the law have never been applied, and people are deprived of these rights. The persecution of Falun Gong is illegitimate, even according to the CCP's laws. I studied Chinese laws when I made preparation for tapping into the TV system, and all of our techniques and the things we did absolutely would not cause harm to the broadcast and TV facilities in China. They knew this fact as well. During the trial they didn't allow me to present relevant evidence, because I could show them how the tapping could be done, but they wouldn't let me present the evidence and neither did they allow me to defend myself. I could tell them why I did this, the reasoning behind it, whether my actions were legal, and I could explain everything. They didn't allow me to explain because the whole trial was illegal, so their verdict was also illegal, as was the three-year incarceration at Nanjing Prison. There is no legal basis to their decision.

Reporter: After living in the U.S.A. for so many years, how did you endure the three year incarceration in a Chinese prison?

Charles Li: I felt like I was in hell. But I always had this one belief, which is I was siding with justice. They were persecuting me in an evil way, but all of the various methods they used against me only strengthened my belief, because the more wicked they are, the more it shows that I was doing the right thing. Their behavior was like a feedback for me verifying that I was right. In addition, Dafa practitioners around the world, just people, the US government officials on various levels and NGOs lent me great support and strongly urged the CCP to release me unconditionally. The abuse I suffered in prison was continuously exposed, so they somewhat refrained from unscrupulously torturing me, perhaps to death, as they did to other Falun Gong practitioners in China. I think these are among the reasons I was able to persist.

Reporter: Some Chinese people say that we are all Chinese. Why would you go to such great length and bring such trouble to yourself?

Charles Li: Before my release, they said we were damaging China's image by exposing the persecution. I said, "You yourselves are damaging the image of China." If you didn't persecute us and gave people freedom, who would want to go to China and clarify the truth? There would be no need, right? We are the victims! We clarify the truth in order to stop the evil persecution, so we can say that we are improving the image of China because we are proving that there are still conscionable people. If everyone keeps silent in the face of this evil persecution that would be terrible because there would be no hope for China. Therefore, I say it's them, the wicked persecutors and not us who are damaging China's image. We are having the opposite effect by letting people see the hope. I also hope all Chinese people can clearly recognize the wicked CCP, because it uses the most extreme tactics to persecute people."

Reporter: Now that you are back, what plans do you have?

Charles Li: I think this [my case] has not yet ended and the persecution of Falun Gong is still ongoing, and we keep hearing about Falun Gong practitioners being tortured to death. So I will continue to clarify the truth. Also, because my case was completely unlawful, I will correct it to the best of my efforts using various means, so the wicked people who persecute Falun Gong will be punished accordingly.