(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Yu Zhenjie is a Falun Dafa practitioner from Mudanjiang City, Heilongjiang Province. During the past eight years she has been arrested many times, sentenced to forced labor, and brutally tortured. Her younger brother, younger sister, and sister-in-law have been sent to prison, and her daughter was sent to a forced labor camp. After Ms. Yu was released, her husband divorced her. The following is Yu Zhenjie's account of the persecution that she was subjected to over the past several years.

I started practicing Falun Gong in 1996. My health improved greatly and I could feel that Teacher was looking after his disciples all the time.

After the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999, I went to Beijing for over three months to appeal for the right to practice Falun Dafa. In late October, I was arrested along with several other practitioners. We were sent back to Mudanjiang City, where we were detained at the Mudanjiang Detention Center.

In late 1999, I was sentenced to three years of forced labor by the Mudanjiang City 610 Office and the National Security Brigade. At first, I was held at the Shuanghe Forced Labor Camp in Qiqihar City, and the guards there frequently beat and berated me. I was forced to work day and night. One time, several practitioners and I refused to follow the rules. We were stripped of our winter coats and cast outside in the bitter cold until we were frozen stiff and lost all feeling in our limbs.

I continued practicing Falun Gong and refused to be "transformed." I was later transferred to the notorious Heilongjiang Provincial Women's Rehabilitation Center in Harbin City. The guards there brutally torture practitioners. For several days, the guards shocked me with electric batons until my face was bruised and blistered all over. The guards call this the "popcorn treatment." As a result of the brutal treatment, I became very weak, lost sensation all over my body, and couldn't take care of myself. Only then was I sent home.

In 2003 I worked with other practitioners at a truth-clarification materials production site. Someone reported us to the police and we were arrested by officers from the Mudanjiang City National Security Brigade. Practitioner Wang Mingzhu and his younger sister were sentenced to prison. With Teacher's help I was able to get away, but I had to live on the streets to avoid further persecution.

In mid-December 2006, I was arrested by armed police officers and members of the Mudanjiang City National Security Brigade. They took away my personal computer, Dafa books, and truth-clarification materials. As a result of the policemen's violence, my whole body was numb, and I couldn't move. Several policemen carried me out and took me to a detention center.

I held a hunger strike to protest the brutal treatment and requested an immediate release. But even when I couldn't move my arms and legs, the police brutally force-fed me. Later I was carried to the police hospital. My family petitioned for my release, and I was finally allowed to go home.

Through Fa study and the support of fellow practitioners sending righteous thoughts, I regained my health in less than a month, but I had to leave home again to avoid further harassment.

Later I learned that about 20 practitioners were arrested that time, including a practitioner who is almost 70. Two practitioners were sent to prison to do forced labor, and a relative of one practitioner was also sent to prison. The other practitioners were tortured and were only released after they paid large sums of money¯some paid tens of thousands of yuan.

In August 2007, the Mudanjiang City National Security Brigade worked with the police department to launch another round of arrests of practitioners. Several practitioners are still in custody.