(Minghui.org) Ms. Pu Emei, a farmer from Yiwei City in Yunnan Province, was arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for her involvement in a child abduction and trafficking case in 2000. After coming across Falun Dafa, an ancient spiritual discipline whose adherents follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, in the detention center, she realized the severity of her crime and how far she had fallen, and developed the wish to become a better person. 

As she practiced her faith and followed Falun Dafa’s principles to improve her character while serving her term at Jinan City Women's Prison, the guards persecuted her severely. They savagely beat her and shocked her with electric batons. After being released, she was harassed and arrested for telling people about how Falun Dafa had transformed her. She was then sentenced to four years in prison and treated inhumanly at the Yunnan Province No. 2 Women's Prison.

Shortly after Ms. Pu was released from her second term in 2018, the authorities continued to monitor her, forcing her to live away from home to avoid being persecuted. Her children have also been harassed by the police, as they attempt to find Ms. Pu’s whereabouts.

Below is Ms. Pu's account of the persecution she suffered.

Coming Across Dafa 

My name is Pu Emei, and I am 51. My starting to practice Falun Dafa is different than that of most practitioners. In a society with fast degrading morality, I was part of the torrent in the downhill flow and participated in an illegal business at the instigation of others. I was arrested in July 2000 for my involvement in a child abduction and trafficking case. 

When locked up at the Zibo City Detention Center, I ran into a detainee who stood out among all others. She was always cheerful and upbeat, in contrast to everyone else who was despondent and hopeless. I asked her why she was in prison and learned that she was a Falun Dafa practitioner. At that time, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had already been persecuting Falun Dafa for one year because of its immense popularity.

I was impressed with the practitioner’s perseverance, and the upright principles that Falun Dafa teaches. As the practitioner told me more and more about Falun Dafa, I became a practitioner and lived by Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. I promised myself, “No matter what kind of tribulation I might face, I will maintain my belief in Dafa until the end.” 

Persecution at Jinan City Women's Prison

The authorities sentenced me to five years in prison, to be served at Jinan City Women's Prison in Shandong Province, at the end of 2000. Soon, I was assigned to the second ward to do unpaid labor – sewing fluffy toys. I worked from 6:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. or even midnight. There were no holidays, except for three days off for the Chinese New Year.

All inmates were forced to watch videos slandering Falun Dafa, and to publicly express their support of the persecution. Instead of being compliant, I told the prison guards about my experience at the detention center, and my positive transformation after practicing Dafa, including recovery from a number of illnesses such as stomachache, enteritis, kidney stone, arrhythmia, and rheumatism. 

As I kept up my practice, the guards refused to shorten my term despite my diligent participation in the hard labor. 

One day the guards obtained a piece of paper with my handwriting of a Dafa lecture while searching a practitioner. Five guards took me to the office and, after closing all the drapes, shocked me with two electric batons, one on the back of my neck and the other on my palm. Two guards then beat and kicked me. Guard Liu Hongtao stomped on my feet with her high heels, injuring my feet. After the guards were tired, they ordered two inmates to clean the floor. Then, I was forced to squat for a day in the workshop. The following week, I was forced to work extended hours. 

When I refused to write the guarantee statements to give up my faith, the guards beat me again. Afterward, I was held in solitary confinement for a week. The inhuman treatment in the first month in prison caused me to lose a lot of weight.

My solitary confinement was arbitrarily extended for a second week, after which I was subjected to the so-called strict discipline. I was forbidden from purchasing any food and was not allowed to wash and shower before going to bed. The guards also humiliated me by forcing me to squat in the central open area of my dormitory while other inmates passed by to the wash closet before I was allowed to go back to my cell to sleep. When I attempted to write complaint letters to the warden and the prison’s prosecutor, the guards assigned inmates to watch me around the clock. I knew they feared that they would be held responsible if the higher authorities found out that I started to practice Falun Dafa while in their custody.

Persecution at the Yiwei City Detention Center

Ten years passed after my release from Jinan City Women's Prison. Guided by Falun Dafa’s principles, I started a new life and enjoyed inner peace. I also used my spare time to clarify the truth about Dafa and told my story to people, hoping they wouldn't be deceived by the communist regime’s propaganda about Falun Dafa and miss the opportunity to benefit from it.

Because of that, I was arrested on April 8, 2014 and my home was ransacked. The authorities confiscated my Falun Dafa keepsakes and my daughter’s laptop computer.

At the police department, I was tied to the tiger bench with my hands and feet restrained by iron rings. I was not allowed to use the toilet. A day later, I was transferred to the Yiwei City Detention Center.

Torture illustration: tiger bench

I was forced to do hard labor – polishing a special tin paper used in memorial services and given a quota of 800 sheets per day. As the material contained toxic substances such as lead, many inmates developed skin allergies, with rashes and blisters. 

Despite the intensive physical labor, we were only given half-cooked rice and food that contained worms and dirt. When an inmate complained about being given food past the expiry date, she was put in handcuffs and shackles for three days.

The Yiwei City Court sentenced me to four years in prison on February 6, 2015. When the detention center authorities learned that I was planning to appeal, they forbade my attorney from visiting me. 

The detention center deputy director Zhang Guangxu and five guards held me down and hit me with a bunch of brass wires on February 14, 2015. My legs were covered with wounds and bruises. I was then put in shackles.

I went on a hunger strike, and later vomited blood in large quantities. Only then, and fearing that my life was in jeopardy, the authorities released me from the shackles and took me to the Yiwei City Hospital.

Ill-Treatment in Yunnan Province No. 2 Women's Prison

The Intermediate Court upheld the original sentence on February 15, 2015. I was transferred to Yunnan Province's Second Women's Prison on April 17. All my belongings, including daily necessities like hand soap, were confiscated except for two sets of underwear. The guards body-searched me and humiliated me by forcing me to strip and squat with my hands on the back of my head. As I refused to give up my faith, two inmates were assigned to monitor me while I had to sit on a small stool all day long. 

The guards demanded that I write the guarantee statements, promising to renounce Falun Dafa, but I refused. “I strive to become a good person,” I said, “and follow the principle of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. What is wrong with that? Would you rather I go back to the way I was as a criminal?” 

Then, I was made to do hard labor in the workshop, sewing stuffed toys and installing power switches. When I could not meet the designated work quota, I was forced to work on Sundays without much rest.

The guards made all inmates watch an exhibit slandering Falun Dafa in 2016, and ordered everyone to write a thought report. I took the opportunity to write an article exposing the CCP's lies about Falun Dafa. In return, the guards summoned me to their office and scolded me. They also reassigned me to a dirty corner of the workshop, where I had to work by myself as punishment.

My prison term was up on February 9, 2018. However, I was not allowed to leave until personnel from the city 610 Office [an extralegal agency created to persecute Falun Gong] and police from the local police station came for me. The authorities appeared to be monitoring me afterward, as when my daughter and I took the train a month later, we were body searched by the train station security for no legitimate reason.

I have been forced to flee my home in order to avoid the harassment by the local 610 Office and police, which has continued to this day. The authorities also keep telephoning my two daughters on public holidays and sensitive dates and question them about my whereabouts. This has caused my daughters to worry about me, and with the constant police harassment, they are unable to lead a normal life.