Free at Last!

American citizen Dr. Charles Lee returned home today after suffering three years of both mental and physical abuse in a Chinese prison. He was greeted by a crowd of more than one hundred Falun Gong practitioners and other supporters who held banners and sang songs in a festive and touching scene at the San Francisco International Airport.

Dr. Lee had gone to China to try to expose the ongoing human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners, but was arrested as soon as he arrived there.

Dr. Lee entered the terminal with confidence and in good spirits, happily speaking with reporters about his time in China and what he plans to do next.

He also appears to be unfazed by the brainwashing and persecution that targeted his belief in Falun Gong.

A reporter asked, "When they pressured you so much, did you ever think of giving up?" Dr. Lee replied with a smile, "Never, never."

"They used all possible measures; many of them are very hard to put into words. They give you pressure all the time, they give you physical and psychological coercion, torture… all the time. You cannot just escape from the pressure, that's tough stuff," Dr. Lee said.

On the forms of persecution he faced, Dr. Lee said, "I was forced to make shoes and Christmas products. I was forced to stand, and if I didn't stand straight, I was kicked. I was pushed against the wall, and deprived of sleep."

Dr. Lee underwent nine hunger strikes in his three years in the Chinese prison, protesting his unjust treatment and the unlawfulness of his imprisonment.

Jeffrey Shurtleff, a representative of Amnesty International and a personal friend of Dr. Lee said, "I think that Charles is a very courageous person. Nonetheless he knows what the consequences are, all of us know the enormous price being paid by Falun Gong practitioners in China, and around the world—it's not just in China."

When asked what he missed most about America, Dr. Lee replied, "freedom, truly."