The persecution really harms everyone, especially young children and teenagers,’ said a young Chinese man.
Meimei was late for school. “How come?” she thought. Her mother always woke her up in the morning. She caught sight of her father. He was late, too. Apparently, she didn’t wake him up either. So where was she?
Then the phone rang.
The 16-year-old girl picked it up. The man on the other end of the line introduced himself as a supervisor at the local police station. “Your mother was arrested for doing Falun Gong exercises in a park. Ask your father to bring 5,000 yuan to the police station tomorrow or you can figure out the consequences yourself,” she recalled.
Her father, himself a corrections officer, started to call his contacts, desperately trying to find somebody who knew somebody at the police station.
That afternoon, another call came, informing them that her mother was transferred to a police station one level above.
“I was very, very scared,” Meimei said. She knew another Falun Gong follower was recently beaten to death at that police station.
“We have to save mom,” she implored her father, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) member in good standing.
Her father solicited help from a well-to-do uncle who promptly started to spread envelopes of cash around and ask questions until he found the right person.
After about four days, the uncle managed to arrange a prison visit. But only Meimei was allowed in.
It was around the Chinese New Year. The police station was cold and dark. She was ushered into a room where she saw a family friend who also practiced Falun Gong. He tried to shy away, but she could see a footprint on his face.
Completing the dreary scene, two policemen sat in a corner, wearing sunglasses and playing chess. Then her mother was led in. Meimei hardly managed to get a sentence out. She spent the rest of the 15 minutes crying.
Once again, the uncle sent cash to various higher-ups in the police department.
“It wasn’t really bribing, just sending money,” Meimei said.
Finally, after about two weeks, her mother was released.
By Petr Sva
