(Minghui.org) Greetings Master! Greetings fellow practitioners!
When I began writing this article, I realized I’ve opposed the persecution by using the law for many years.
I was chosen to work in an office because of my good writing skills. I was later promoted to secretary of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Youth League Committee. I was always good at expressing myself. Studying the law improved my critical thinking and my speaking and writing abilities. My coworkers knew I was good at communication and they were optimistic about my future. I also felt the same way.
I heard Li, a coworker in the Labor and Employment Office, was reading Zhuan Falun, and that it was a book that helped people achieve Buddhahood. Due to decades of brainwashing from the CCP and my position at the workplace, I felt this was superstition. So I decided to convince him to stop. I asked him for information about Falun Dafa. He refused to give me his copy of Zhuan Falun since he read it every day. Instead he printed 9 pages of the book on the computer and gave it to me. “Let me know if you’re interested in buying a copy after you read this,” he said.
After I read what he printed during my lunch break, I no longer thought Falun Dafa was “superstitious.” I was fully convinced by the seemingly simple and yet profound Falun Dafa teachings. I asked Li to buy a copy of Zhuan Falun for me.
Since childhood, I was interested in discussions and reasoning. After middle school, I was enrolled in a good high school which focused on liberal arts. I later studied science in college and had excellent grades, yet I felt something was missing.
I eventually realized I wasn’t satisfied with my career and I had other dreams such as becoming a lawyer. So I registered at the local judicial bureau, bought books, and I began to study the law. To obtain a law degree, one needs to pass 14 subjects. I took two subjects each time and passed 8 by the time I graduated from college. After I graduated I began to work and then I got married. So the dream from my college days faded.
Although I did not earn a law degree I did learn those core courses including Criminal Law, Civil Law, Legal History, Advanced Language, and Logic. I was familiar with legal provisions and, when I made decisions, I tended to think from the perspective of the law.
Several practitioners in my area were arrested in 2008 and, for the first time, we hired lawyers to defend them. During this process, I learned that the law and justice were not as respected as I thought. I also heard about procedural justice and exclusion of illegal evidence.
At the same time, I also witnessed that when facing a lawyer or someone who knows the law – especially when this person is upright, those people who persecute practitioners in the justice system are somewhat afraid. So I started to reference the law when I told someone about the persecution or when I exposed it.
When it was close to one of the CCP’s “sensitive dates” the company director asked me to stay at home after work and not to go out. “At work, I should follow policy and code of conduct here; after work I should just follow the law,” I explained. He understood and said he had no authority over me after work.
Around the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008, officials at my workplace suspected I told others about Dafa online. So they kept me at the security office in the company and took away my computer. Company officials, 610 Office agents, and some other people took turns threatening me, and attempting to force me to give up my belief. I reasoned with them one by one and told them facts about Dafa.
A tall person with a dark face came at midnight but did not tell me who he was. After listening to me attentively for a long time, he stood up and said, “I am leaving now. No matter who comes here, you just tell that person what you told me.” Among the guards who watched me, Liu agreed to quit the CCP organization and planned to find another job instead of working as a police officer. Xu said he had doubts about being assigned to watch me because he felt he should protect me.
At 2:30 p.m. the next day, I told Xu and another guard, “I was summoned here at 3 p.m. yesterday and within half an hour it will be 24 hours, the legal limit. If you cannot prove I’ve broken any laws in the next 30 minutes, I will sue you.” Xu immediately went out and called a higher officer and said, “What should I do? He knows the law and we can’t continue holding him.” I was released 10 minutes later. The manager of the security office returned my computer.
After I returned from a business trip at the end of 2008, I was told to move from the production unit to another unit. Before that I had been removed from the position of the Youth League Committee’s secretary. I reported to the unit and was told my salary went down by one level. I checked with the Labor and Employment Office and they confirmed salary at the product unit is higher by one level.
I thanked the staff member and went to the office of the company director. When I asked if I did something wrong, he said no and he transferred me to another unit because of my skills. “I know you have potential, but I cannot promote you due to policies related to Falun Dafa,” he explained.
“Can I have a look at the policy?” I asked.
“No,” he replied, shaking his head. “Even if there is one, I cannot show you.”
“Even small things such as an event to plant trees have written policies from higher officials. How can such a major human resources decision have no written policy? We cannot just fool people. Right?” I continued.
“The CCP always plays games with people,” he replied helplessly.
Later that day, I heard the company director informed the Labor and Employment Office to raise my salary by one level.
One day in autumn 2009, manager Miao invited me to dinner. I thanked him and said I had no time. He called that evening and asked me to return to work. As soon as I arrived, I realized because I had distributed Falun Dafa materials, the security office reported me to the officials. When I saw that another official Chen was there, I decided to chat with them about Falun Dafa.
“You may have heard I practice Falun Dafa and you’re curious about it. Today I can tell you more,” I said. I talked about my experiences of practicing Falun Dafa, the benefits on mind and body, how the CCP persecutes innocent people, and how absurd this suppression is.
It was almost midnight. “Both of you know me well and we are also good friends. You have probably heard that ‘good is rewarded with good and evil meets evil,’” I said while pointing to the clock on the wall. “Within half hour, it will be tomorrow and you would have committed the crime of illegal detention. I do not care about time, but I do not want you be in trouble.” So they sent me home.
The following day, another officer Ma called me to an office with Miao, Chen, and others. She asked if I could work overtime during the weekend. I shook my head and said I needed to visit my parents. She said she could send someone to visit my parents on my behalf. “My parents want to see me, not someone else,” I stopped smiling and continued seriously. “Plus, as a company official, you have no authorization to illegally detain employees.” She did not know what to do and let me go. But when I visited my parents that weekend, the company vehicle was assigned me to follow me all the time.
In 2010, manager Zhou asked me to work over the weekend. I asked why since all the assignments had been completed. “This is my decision. Plus you will earn overtime pay,” he replied. Realizing this is a form of illegal detention, I said to him seriously, “According to Labor Law, working overtime will get additional pay and also requires my consent. Sorry, I am not available.” Then I left.
That evening, I saw a vehicle from my workplace in front of the apartment building where I lived, facing the building entrance. I took some fruit and went to the car. A little embarrassed, these coworkers said they were assigned to be there. I gave them the fruit and said, “I am not upset with you. But you violated the law. What you are doing exceeds your job description.” They told me it the order came from Wang, a newly arrived CCP secretary.
I heard Wang had been a CCP official for many years and people were afraid of him. I went to his office the following day and introduced myself. “As a company leader, one is expected to set up a good example of following the law,” I explained. “If an official assigns others to monitor an employee after work, it is illegal. If a company vehicle is used for this, it is another violation of abusing company resources.” He was not angry. He sighed and said, “I know this. I will retire in six months. I have no choice. Or you can sue me…”
When I later met a lawyer who defended detained practitioners, I told him these stories. The lawyer said I did the right thing.
In 2014, police found some paper money in my home with words related to Falun Dafa, and kept me at a detention center. When a company official asked me to renounce my belief, I said Falun Dafa is good and the cult list from the Ministry of Public Security does not include Falun Dafa. The official gave up and left.
Facing interrogation in the detention center, I always asked, “What crime have I committed? Is your question related to this case? If not, I will not answer.” This reply stopped most of their questions. Seeing they were unable to get things from me, a deputy director of the police department came. I asked casually, “I thought this case was being handled by another deputy director. Why isn’t he here?” Already upset by my answers, the previous deputy director replied angrily, “Your question is unrelated to this case, so I won’t answer.” Everyone laughed. I heard later, the other deputy director stopped participating in the persecution because of practitioners’ truth-clarification efforts.
Forced labor in the detention is common. The job assignment was making cotton swabs and blowing up balloons. I know it was illegal and I did not participate. One inmate said I could stay with them and chat. So I had an idea. While I made cotton swabs, I wrote on the cotton swab stick, “Falun Dafa is good.” The words were small and clear. The inmates applauded it and started to do the same.
One day, a guard came and called out, “Any Falun Dafa practitioners here?”
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
“Do you have a pen?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Please stop writing those words. The boss is angry,” he said.
“We are not workers who are making money,” I said. “It is illegal to force detainees to do labor. You’re making money from this. So they are your boss, not our boss,” I replied.
I looked up and saw the guard was gone.
Before the court hearing, my wife wrote to me and said that hiring a lawyer for a not guilty plea wasn’t easy. She suggested me I defend myself. I thought the same and began to write my own defense statement and target the indictment item by item. The indictment said I used cult organizations to undermine the implementation of the law. But Falun Dafa’s core values are Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and has no membership. It is not a cult. Plus as a private citizen, I have no power to undermine the implementation of the law. If someone does believe I have done so, that person needs to specify which law was undermined and to what extent it was undermined.
The day of the hearing, I went with my defense statement. The guard said no. “If you deprive my privilege of defense, I will go there,” I replied. He had no choice but to let me go.
I was not familiar with the procedure, but I knew I need to think twice before answering their questions.
“Where does the money [with printed messages] come from?” asked the prosecutor
“I have a job and I made the money,” I replied.
“What is the money for?” she said.
“Money is money. I use it the same way as other people do,” I replied.
She was upset and said, “Please answer directly.”
“I have already answered directly,” I said.
While reading the defense statement, I felt every word was powerful and every sentence was from my heart. I felt as if the entire universe was listening to me. When the judge told me to sit down, I said, “I prefer to stand because I’m a plaintiff, not a defendant.” I said I would sue Jiang Zemin, the former CCP leader who started the persecution of Falun Dafa.
After receiving the verdict, I wrote an appeal. When the prosecutor refused to do so, I pointed out that not accepting the appeal was malfeasance, so he did.
Before leaving the detention center, another prosecutor asked what I thought.
“Even sentencing me one day is wrong,” I replied.
“But it already happened,” he said.
“It is up to the court. I was and I am innocent,” I replied.
“We know you are innocent. But we have no choice. Still we did not want to sentence you to a long term as higher officials said. That is why your case dragged this long,” he said.
I was moved and said, “You are the first officer who told me Falun Dafa is innocent. Could you tell me you name?” I asked. I thought he might hesitate. But he told me his name directly. I know it was real since I heard it before. All the inmates in the cell were touched.
After entering the prison, I was led to a conference room with over 20 officers. Everyone was sitting except for me.
“Why are you here?” someone asked.
“Falun Dafa,” I replied.
“What a pity!” a bald officer sighed. “You could have a great future. Do you feel bad for your parents?”
“I’m a good employee, a good son, a good husband, and a good father. Everyone knows I am innocent,” I replied.
I later heard he was the a deputy manager of the education officer responsible for persecuting practitioners.
Then I began telling him what happened at my workplace and the detention center. Before I finished, the bald officer stopped me and said, “You said this is not your fault. So whose fault is it?”
“The CCP,” I said in a low voice, avoiding his eyesight due to fear.
“Who?” he called aloud.
“The CCP!” I sat up and said seriously while looking in his eyes. I thought they would beat me. But he did not do anything—instead he looked like a deflated balloon.
I refused to labor in the prison, or recite the prison rules. I tried to chat with inmates. Over time, I could tell others were avoiding me. I asked why. Someone told secretly a guard surnamed Gao told them to.
I greeted Gao the following day. He asked what is the matter. “Is it violating the law for me to talk with others?” I asked.
“Of course, not,” he replied.
“Then why did you tell the others to stop talking to me?” I said. “If I’ve done something wrong, please tell me so I can correct it.”
He was a little afraid and said he did not do that.
“Do you have a minute to talk about the law?” I asked.
“No, no. We do not talk about laws here,” he replied while walking away quickly.
(To be continued)