(Minghui.org) Mr. Ma Jiang’s daughter received a phone call from the Shenyang City First Prison in Liaoning Province on October 26, 2023, saying that her father had been placed in solitary confinement for a second time since his prison admission on August 1, 2023.
Mr. Ma, a former employee of the Dawn Aerospace Engine company in Shenyang, is serving four years for his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
The prison guard said that Mr. Ma was assigned to Division Two upon admission, but was soon placed in solitary confinement as he insisted on doing Falun Gong exercises. He was not allowed to brush his teeth, shower, or take naps in the solitary cell. He was also handcuffed all day long in various ways. One form of handcuffing involved cuffing his hands behind his back (see image below). Sometimes he was shackled as well.
Torture reenactment: hands cuffed behind one’s back
During the day, Mr. Ma was forced to listen to audio of anti-Falun Gong propaganda and prison rules non-stop. The food given to him was much less and worse than what is typically offered to inmates held in regular cells. Sometimes he was only given a steamed bun with water.
The guard said they let Mr. Ma out of solitary confinement two months later, but he started doing Falun Gong exercises again. They put him back in solitary confinement and threatened to keep him there for another two months.
The guard asked Mr. Ma’s daughter to “work on” him and promised to lift his solitary confinement if he would not do the Falun Gong exercises again. The guard threatened to deny him family visits and forbid his family from depositing money into his commissary account if he defied their order.
During a phone conversation, the guard suddenly seemed to remember that Mr. Ma’s daughter is also a Falun Gong practitioner who was once jailed for her faith. He questioned if she had renounced her faith during her imprisonment. When she said no, he hung up the phone right away.
Multiple Family Members Targeted for Practicing Falun Gong, Wife Deceased
Mr. Ma took up Falun Gong in 1996 at the recommendation of his father-in-law, Mr. Wu Yu. His wife, Ms. Wu Shuyan, her brother, Mr. Wu Shuming, her daughter Ms. Ma Hongyang and son-in-law Mr. Zhao Wei soon joined in the practice as well.
In the past 24 years of persecution, the extended family were repeatedly targeted for upholding their faith. Ms. Wu died at 47 in 2013, after being tortured in prison, and her father passed away on May 19, 2015, after enduring years of persecution. Mr. Ma was previously given three years in prison in 2015, five months after his brother-in-law Mr. Wu was also sentenced to three years. Mr. Ma’s daughter and son-in-law were both sentenced to one year and four months in 2022.
Mr. Ma’s Latest Sentencing
Mr. Ma was returning from grocery shopping on July 20, 2022, when he was stopped by the agents of Shenhe District Police Department at the entrance of his apartment unit. The police said they needed to talk to him outside, only to arrest him when he stepped out of the building. His home was also ransacked.
The Shenhe Economic Development Zone Court later sentenced Mr. Ma to four years for “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong. Details about his indictment and court trial aren’t clear.
Mr. Ma was first taken to the Panjin Prison for a brainwashing session on July 14, 2023, and then transferred to the Shenyang City First Prison on August 1.
Related reports:
With Mother Dead and Father in Prison, a Daughter Seeks Justice (Photos)
Ms. Wu Shuyan Dies After Persecution in Liaoning Women’s Prison
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