"It's Li Hongzhi who should be tried, not us," said Mo Chou, a former dedicated follower of the notorious Falun Gong cult.

"What we have done has violated China's laws and we are sure to be punished according to the law," Mo said in a recent interview with Xinhua News Agency. "But we were cheated by Li Hongzhi and it's Li who misled us into acting against the government."
Mo, 25, is one of several Falun Gong followers involved in a conspiracy in the United States last year to sue a Chinese official from central China's Hubei Province, alleging "human rights" violations caused the death of Peng Min, another diehard Falun Gong practitioner, and Peng's mother Li Yinxiu, early last year.

According to earlier reports, Peng's family lives in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, and all five family members are Falun Gong followers.

In fact, Peng Min committed suicide by hitting his head against an iron gate and his mother died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a local hospital.

When Li Hongzhi, the Falun Gong leader, and the headquarters of the cult in the United States, learnt of their deaths, they directed their followers in China via the Internet to plot the indictment.

Mo Chou and several other Falun Gong followers including Li Fengyou, Zhang Jing, Yan Zhigang and Liu Xunchun, found Peng Liang, Peng Min's brother, and persuaded him to sign a power of attorney which gave false details of the case.

When the cult received the indictment, they sued the Chinese official when he was in the United States, a move that was widely covered by the news media of some foreign countries and Taiwan Province.

Mo told Xinhua that after she completed the task, she received an e-mail from one of the "main leaders" of the Falun Gong cult in the United States. The "leader" using the assumed name of "Tong Xin" said in the e-mail that Li Hongzhi praised what they had done and hoped they would keep supporting the cult.

"Li Hongzhi told a meeting we had made a 'great contribution' to the Falun Gong and praised us as 'heroes'," Mo recalled.

"I felt proud to be praised by Li Hongzhi in person."

Detained after the conspiracy was exposed, Mo confessed some details of setting up the plot, which were covered by the news media.

"I never thought I was being a 'traitor' to the Falun Gong, just because I told the truth," Mo said.

"For some time, I continued practicing the Falun Gong in the detention center. But one day, some people suddenly called me 'traitor' and spat at me.

"At first, I didn't know what I had done wrong. Later, some people told me that the 'Minghui' website (run by the Falun Gong cult) published a message saying I was a traitor to the Falun Gong," Mo said.

She said she was very angry at hearing this. She told Xinhua: "At first, I was puzzled why on earth they (the Falun Gong cult leaders) did not understand my loyalty toward the Falun Gong.

"Later, I realized they feared I would tell more truths so they labeled me a traitor. By doing so, no Falun Gong practitioner would believe what I said, even if I told the truth."

In the detention center, some Falun Gong diehards despised her because she was a 'traitor', while others who had broken away from the cult scolded her for the false power of attorney which fooled them and led to their detention.

A Falun Gong practitioner told Mo: "Don't underestimate that 'power of attorney' of yours. Li Hongzhi made good use of it in the United States and published a series of articles on the 'Minghui' website.

"Many (Falun Gong practitioners) and I read the articles on the 'Minghui' website and believed that Peng Min was tortured to death.

"We were so angry about this we took to the street and some went to Beijing to distribute leaflets. And we were detained."

"When I was detained, my daughter was only two years old!" the Falun Gong follower said bitterly.

"I fooled others, but I was fooled by Li Hongzhi," Mo declared. "We are all victims of the Falun Gong cult." Mo said she regretted what she had done.

"I had always been a tool of Li Hongzhi. Once he considered me useless, Li Hongzhi immediately called me a traitor," Mo said.

Mo's mother suffered from eye disease and later became blind because she believed in Li Hongzhi's teachings and refused medical treatment.

Mo, an economics graduate of a famous Wuhan university, worked for a company in a local development zone. Later she devoted herself to Falun Gong activities and resigned from the company.

She was detained many times for her involvement in Falun Gong affairs. She has had no contact with her husband for a long time.

"We would have lived a happy life if it wasn't for the Falun Gong," Mo said, "Now I miss my mother and husband very much."

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2002)