(Minghui.org) Before her retirement, Ms Yang Li, 68, now a resident of San Francisco, was a costume designer for a traditional arts group in Anqing City, Anhui Province, China. She had been arrested and detained many times in China during the past 16 years, for practicing Falun Gong. Ms Yang has filed a criminal complaint against former dictator Jiang Zemin, charging him with crimes related to persecuting Falun Gong practitioners in China.
The following is Ms Yang's account:
After Jiang outlawed Falun Gong in China in July 1999, Communist Party officials from the 610 Office, the residential committee, my workplace, and police constantly monitored and harassed me at home. My home phone and cell phone were frequently tapped. I was taken to brainwashing facilities on four occasions, fined twice, and illegally detained many times, and my house was ransacked three times. I was summoned to the local police station for interrogation countless times.
For years I lived in constant fear. This caused great strain on my physical and mental health, and also affected my family.
Falun Gong Gave Me a New Lease on Life
I was weak and sickly from a young age. In 1990, I was diagnosed with late stage gastric cancer. Doctors said that I would live, at most, for another two years.
My right elbow began to hurt terribly in late 1993. Doctors suspected that the cancer had spread to my bones.
I became very ill in June 1995, and went to the hospital for a checkup. This time, the doctors told my family that the cancer cells may have progressed to the nasopharynx area. At that point, I was given only three to five months to live.
When there seemed to be no hope, a good friend who practices Falun Gong sent me a copy of the book Zhuan Falun. After reading it, I thought it seemed like a wonderful practice, and became determined to learn the exercises as well as the teachings.
I gradually regained my health, and for nearly 20 years now, I've not been to the hospital. I'm fit as a fiddle and full of energy.
I follow the principles of Falun Gong, “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” in my daily life. My eldest brother commented that I was the most trustworthy, dependable person in the family.
Assortment of Persecution Suffered After July 1999
Jiang Zemin launched the persecution against Falun Gong in July 1999. From then on, I was watched by two agents every day. They followed me everywhere. The constant surveillance ended when I moved away in October 2000.
On July 23, 1999, I was asked to go to my workplace. Upon entering the office, two police officers immediately blocked the way out and showed me a summons, and I was taken to the police station and interrogated. The police asked me to hand in my Falun Gong books, and forbade me from practicing Falun Gong. I was released at 10:00 p.m that night.
I was arrested and detained for a day at the police station on December 4, 1999. The police asked me to write a statement promising not to practice Falun Gong, but I refused to comply. They arrested my husband and got him to write a statement on my behalf. When I refused to sign the statement, I was locked in a dark, dilapidated room. It was very cold that night and I was freezing. They also threatened to whip me with a leather belt. I was held there until the next day.
A practitioner invited me to her house after dinner on July 26, 2000. When I left her place it was already past 10:00 p.m. A few men dashed towards me as I stepped out of the house. One of them grabbed my bag and four men grabbed my arms. Another seized my throat from behind, while yet another showed me a police badge. They said they were from the police department and took me back to the station.
My bag and body was searched. A police officer verbally abused me for over 40 minutes. I was taken to another police station after midnight. My house was ransacked and my husband was arrested. The police officers took turns interrogating me, and I was not allowed to sleep or given any water to drink.
They wanted to know who gave me the new teachings published by the founder of Falun Gong. When I refused to tell them anything, I was locked in a room where the door and windows were shut tightly. It was a hot summer day. I nearly died from heat stroke in the enclosed room, where I was held for two days and nights. My husband was coerced into writing a statement promising to quit Falun Gong on my behalf, and asked to take me home.
Anqing City police officers carried out mass arrests of local Falun Gong practitioners in January 2001. Someone knocked on my door at around 8:00 a.m on February 1. When I opened the door, eight police officers barged in, while two others stood outside.
I was returned to the police station and locked up for two days and one night. Two days later, police officers brought me back to the police station. They took a photo of me, and fingerprints, for record keeping purposes.
I was arrested in late March 2001, and taken to a brainwashing facility. Agents from the 610 Office tried to make me promise not to practice Falun Gong, but I did not give in. In the end, I was given a warning letter.
I was taken to a brainwashing facility at the former Anqing City Procuratorate office building on October 2, 2002, and illegally detained for 22 days.
In June, 2006, my relatives invited me to visit them in Qianshan County, Anhui Province. Five police officers arrived there to arrest me, and ransacked their home. My house was also raided. I was taken to Huaining County Detention Center, detained for 25 days, and fined 5,000 yuan. I was released on bail pending trial, and placed under surveillance for a year.
While awaiting trial at home, I was arrested again in November 2006, and held at a brainwashing center situated in a hotel for 18 days.
A year later, in June 2007, the police decided not to submit my case for trial. I was instead detained for 15 days and fined 1,000 yuan.
I was arrested on June 30, 2011, and taken to a brainwashing class for ten days.
Background
In 1999, Jiang Zemin, as head of the Chinese Communist Party, overrode other Politburo standing committee members and launched the violent suppression of Falun Gong.
The persecution has led to the deaths of many Falun Gong practitioners over the past 16 years. More have been tortured for their belief and even killed for their organs. Jiang Zemin is directly responsible for the inception and continuation of the brutal persecution.
Under his personal direction, the Chinese Communist Party established an extralegal security organ, the “610 Office,” on June 10, 1999. The organization overrides police forces and the judicial system in carrying out Jiang's directive regarding Falun Gong: to ruin their reputations, cut off their financial resources, and destroy them physically.
Chinese law allows for citizens to be plaintiffs in criminal cases, and many practitioners are now exercising that right to file criminal complaints against the former dictator.
