(Minghui.org) Ms. Hu Yanshun, 86, a Falun Gong practitioner in Daying County of Suining City, Sichuan Province, has been harassed, arrested, detained, and sentenced to nine years in jail since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started to persecute Falun Gong on July 20, 1999.

Ms. Hu Yanshun described her ordeals:

Benefitting from Practicing Falun Gong

I was introduced to Falun Gong in late June 1998. I suffered all kinds of diseases at that time, including a peri-arthritic shoulder, sciatica, deformation of the knees and fingers, and long-term insomnia. I always felt chills throughout the year and wore a warm jacket even in the summer. My husband passed away due to illness in 1998. With the grief and financial pressure from this loss, I almost had a mental collapse. I felt my life had come to an end!

Worried about me, my daughter invited me to stay with her. I was introduced to Falun Gong while I was with her. Just four days after learning the practice, I felt changes in my body. I gradually stopped taking the medicines that I had depended on for years. I have since tried to always be a good person, think of others first, and follow Falun Dafa's principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Arrested Four Times for Refusing to Give Up My Practice

After Jiang Zemin started the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, like many of my fellow practitioners, I too suffered persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials.

I was reported to the police in early 2001 while clarifying the truth about Falun Gong in Daying Township. I was arrested and taken to Daying County Police Department. The police body searched me, interrogated me about fellow practitioners, and attempted to force me to give up Falun Gong. I refused and was detained for two weeks. The police also searched my home and confiscated a tape player, four Dafa books, and four Dafa lecture tapes.

I was arrested again in 2003 for distributing truth-clarifying materials in Daying Township. I was taken to the county police department where I was body searched and interrogated. I flatly refused to betray my fellow practitioners! I was sentenced to one year of house arrest.

I was arrested again in 2004 by Pengxi County police for passing out brochures. The police searched me, scolded me, and slapped my face in an attempt to force me to betray my fellow practitioners. I refused to cooperate. I was detained for two weeks.

I was arrested with two fellow practitioners while at home in February 2006. Three of us were detained in Daying County Detention Center for two weeks. We were insulted when we clarified the truth to a prosecutor there.

After being released, I was constantly harassed and watched by local police, 610 Office personnel, and staff from the resident community during so-called “sensitive” days. Sometimes the electricity and gas to my home were shut off for no reason. This seriously affected my family. The pressure caused an untold amount of stress for many years.

A local police officer named Huang once brought my son to my house. He wanted to get into my home to search for Falun Gong-related items. When I refused to open the door, he went downstairs to shut off the water. One day, five or six officers broke into my house. They searched my home and took five photos of Falun Gong’s founder (Li Hongzhi), two copies of the book Zhuan Falun, two copies of Hong Yin, a tape player, a DVD player, two MP3 players, three sets of Master Li’s lecture tapes, and a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party.

Sentenced to Nine Years in Jail

One evening in 2007, four fellow practitioners came to visit me. They hadn't even sat down when several police officers broke into the room. We were all arrested and body searched. They searched my home and confiscated a photo of Master Li, two Dafa books, one MP3 player, a tape player, and a DVD player. The four fellow practitioners were released, but I was taken to Yongxing Detention Center in Suining City. I was later sentenced to a nine-year prison term by the Daying County Court.

My family and I refused to accept the verdict and appealed to Suining Intermediate Court. But the original sentence was upheld. I was taken to the No. 6 Ward of Chengdu Women's Prison and was later transferred to the No. 2 Ward.

Practitioners who refused to renounce Falun Gong were allowed to bathe only with cold water, and their meals were often taken away by regular inmates.

I was watched around the clock by ruthless criminal prisoners such as Wu Xiaoling, a convicted murderer. Guard Lu Qiaoxia told the criminal inmates to torment us Falun Gong practitioners. If I rested in bed, they dragged me off the bed. They scolded and spat on me. They also prevented me from talking to the guards. My freedom was severely limited.

Not long after I was sent to the prison, they tried to force me to renounce Falun Gong. They brought a prepared statement to my cell, and while I was asleep, an inmate forcibly took my hand to make fingerprints on the document. I said to them, “It won't count. Only my Master has the final say.”

I was physically and mentally persecuted until I had swollen legs, sciatic nerve pain, and heart problems. Because of my worsening condition, I was released on January 11, 2016, one year and four months before my scheduled release date.

Harassed After Being Released

After I was released, my son received many calls from the local police inquiring about my whereabouts. Staff from the local resident community also kept coming over to check on me. Even when I stayed at my daughter's home, police called her to check on me. This intense pressure burdened my family. They had to prevent me from going out or contacting other fellow practitioners.

In addition, the community staff refused my application for “subsistence allowance,” using the excuse that I had been in jail. This deprived me of the rights that I, as a nearly 90-year-old woman, legally deserved.

It has been more than 18 years since the CCP launched its persecution of Falun Gong. The remnants of the evil continue to carry out the egregious persecution. As a Falun Gong practitioner, I feel very sad for the people used by the CCP as tools.

I want to say some words to those who participate in the persecution. Falun Gong is the great law of the universe! Falun Gong practitioners are the disciples of Lord Buddha and the ones who are practicing Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. No evil can move or shake us. All the evil inflicted upon us by the CCP is in vain. I hope you can open your eyes and learn from history. Give up the illusion of what the CCP instills in you and put aside your hatred toward Falun Gong. Accept the truth that Falun Gong is good and make a decision that will truly benefit your life. At 86 years of age, and having suffered 18 years of unlawful persecution, this is my true hope for you.