(Minghui.org) As usual, Mr. Ma Guobiao, a resident of Shanghai, wiped the glass and did the housework for his 75-year-old mother on June 4, 2022. He then left and went into hiding to avoid being arrested again for his faith in Falun Gong.
At that time, Shanghai had just lifted the month-long COVID lockdown, and people had to scan their health code on their mobile phone to get to any place. Without a phone or ID, Mr. Ma could not take public transportation, check in to a hotel, or even go shopping. It is hard to imagine how he had spent his days that were full of trials and tribulations.
Over the past 24 years, Mr. Ma, his parents, and his paternal grandmother have suffered unimaginable persecution, both physically and mentally, for their shared faith in Falun Gong.
Mr. Ma has been arrested five times. He served two years in a labor camp and six years in prison. His mother, Ms. Jin Runfang, was arrested and detained five times. She was sentenced to four years in prison and also spent two years in a forced labor camp. Her mother-in-law and husband succumbed to the pressure and passed away in 2005 and 2013, respectively.
Son Repeatedly Arrested and Tortured
Mr. Ma started practicing Falun Gong in June 1999 at the age of 28. In May 2000, Mr. Ma went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was taken to the Beijing Haidian Detention Center on May 14 and held there for nine days. He was then taken back to the Changning Detention Center, where he was held for additional 15 days. He was also fired from his job after he was released.
In January 2001, Mr. Ma was arrested and taken to a brainwashing center in the Qingpu Legal School. During his three months of detention there, he insisted on doing the Falun Gong exercises every day, despite being threatened with forced labor.
Although he was released shortly after that, he was arrested again months later and held at the Changning Detention Center for 30 days.
In December 2002, Mr. Ma was arrested another time while at work and taken to the Changning Detention Center. The police ordered him to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong. He refused to comply and was given a two-year term at Shanghai No. 3 Men’s Labor Camp.
Horrible Torture in the Labor Camp
In the labor camp, Mr. Ma was shocked in the private parts with an electric baton. He endured the “Shanghai-style tiger stool,” in which he was forced to sit on the stool with his back against the wall and his legs widely separated and severely punched by several inmates. He was also deprived of sleep.
Torture Reenactment: Electric shocks
Mr. Ma witnessed the beatings of other Falun Gong practitioners by inmates, who were instigated by the prison guards with the incentive of reduced sentences. There were surveillance recordings in the monitoring room, but those inmates gagged the practitioners with rags to keep them from screaming. Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Lu Xingguo was beaten to death under such circumstances in October 2003. But none of the inmates were punished.
Sentenced to Six Years
The police broke into Mr. Ma’s home on February 22, 2008, and arrested his parents and more than a dozen other practitioners who were there for a gathering. The police also confiscated the family’s two computers, two copiers, one printer, one recorder, one laminating machine, one paper cutter, and some coins.
Mr. Ma was at work that day, but he was also arrested and severely beaten. His eyeglasses were knocked off and down jacket stripped off. His hands were tied behind his back with shoelaces. Both he and his parents were taken to the Jiading Detention Center on the next day and had their arrests approved on March 28.
The Jiading District Court held a secret trial of the family’s case on January 12, 2009. The court appointed three lawyers to represent them. The lawyers entered guilty pleas for them.
Mr. Ma was sentenced to six years in Tilanqiao Prison and his mother Ms. Jin Runfang four years in the Shanghai Women’s Prison. His father, Mr. Ma Dongquan, was given three years but allowed to serve time outside prison due to his poor health. The family appealed, but the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People’s Court ruled to uphold their original verdicts on February 26, 2009.
Latest Persecution
While Shanghai was still locked down on May 22, 2022, Mr. Ma went out to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong, only to be reported.
The police located him through street surveillance cameras and broke into his home. His printers, computers, paper cutters, and informational materials were taken away. Due to the lockdown, the local detention center refused to accept Mr. Ma and he was released on bail on the same day.
To avoid the persecution, Mr. Ma decided to live away from home on June 4, 2022. He left his ID card and mobile phone at home to avoid being tracked by the police.
After the police learned about his escape, they searched for him all over the place, including homes of his relatives and friends. One time, they harassed the relatives right after his mother Ms. Jin visited them. Only then did Ms. Jin know that she has been followed. After the incident, Ms. Jin didn’t dare to go out.
Mother’s Persecution
Ms. Jin retired from the Shanghai Yarn-dyed Machinery Plastic Parts Factory. She used to suffer from multiple diseases, including Meniere’s syndrome, migraines, and depression. All her diseases disappeared soon after she started to practice Falun Gong in March 1996.
Since the persecution, Ms. Jin has been arrested five times and incarcerated twice for a total of six years.
Tortured in Prison
Ms. Jin was arrested on April 22, 2000, and detained in the Changning Detention Center for doing Falun Gong exercises in a park. She was arrested again on October 17, 2000, and held at the Minhang Detention Center.
Ms. Jin went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong after she was released. She was arrested in Beijing on December 15, 2000. In a detention center in Beijing, she witnessed the brutality of the guards and the strident screams of the practitioners due to the torture were heartbreaking. Later, Ms. Jin was sent back to Shanghai and then given a two-year term at the Shanghai Women’s Forced Labor Camp.
The torture Ms. Jin suffered in the labor camp included standing still and sitting motionless for long hours, copying the labor camp rules, reading derogatory articles, sleep deprivation, and forced labor. At home, her family was constantly harassed and lived in fear.
After she was sentenced to four years in Shanghai Women’s Prison following another arrest in February 2008, the guards instigated inmates to brutally persecute her and other jailed Falun Gong practitioners by offering them commutation. The inmates had tried to transform Ms. Jin by any means necessary. They often kicked her, beat her, verbally abused her, as well as slamming her head with a heavy book.
Ms. Jin was also not allowed to sleep or use the fan on hot days. She was often forced to sit on a small stool for long hours. She could only wash her face and hands once a day. No shower was allowed. She was forced to eat excessive food and force-fed unknown drugs. She said if it were not for her firm belief in the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, she would have become disoriented during those four years of imprisonment.
Financial Persecution
In March 2022, Ms. Jin received a notice from the Shanghai Municipal Insurance Management Center, asking her to return more than 180,000 yuan in pension issued to her during her four-year prison sentence. She refused to comply.
In July 2022, she was informed by the Huangpu Social Security Center that starting in August, they would withhold 3,000 yuan from her monthly pension payment to pay back her 180,000 yuan “debt.” She is left with only 1,420 yuan each month to cover her basic living cost.
Because of the physical and mental persecution, Ms. Jin suffered a stroke two years ago. The financial persecution worsened her health, and the right half of her body became disabled. Thanks to her persistent efforts in practicing Falun Gong, she gradually recovered.
The police harassed Ms. Jin again on February 14, 2023, after she was reported for giving Falun Gong materials to the residential committee staff members. Her Falun Gong books and informational materials were also confiscated.
Ms Jin’s mother-in-law had lived in fear since the onset of the persecution. The mental pressure took a toll on her health. She passed away in January 2005.
Father Passes Away
Following their son’s arrest in 2002, the police deceived Ms. Jin’s husband Mr. Ma Dongquan into signing a statement, promising that he wouldn’t go to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Although the police claimed that they would release his son if he signed the statement, they still held his son in custody and gave him a two-year labor camp term.
Mr. Ma suffered a stroke and was unable to walk after he was arrested with his wife and son in February 2008. The guards didn’t provide him with any medical treatment during his eleven months of detention. For health reasons, he was released and allowed to serve the three-year term outside the prison. While taking him home, the police ransacked his home again and took away the satellite dish that they used to receive uncensored TV programs from overseas media.
Mr. Ma lived alone with endless distress while his wife and son were in prison. Even so, he was still closely monitored by the police and his health continued to deteriorate.
Mr. Ma was arrested again on August 4, 2009, and taken to the Qingpu Brainwashing Center.
The authorities held him in custody in the neighborhood committee from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day between April 30 and May 4, 2010, during the World Expo in Shanghai. He was forced to write thought reports and do unpaid labor despite his health condition.
In the spring of 2011, Mr. Ma had a serious car accident. His leg was fractured and a steel plate was installed in him. He was taken to a senior center, where he suffered several strokes.
When his wife was released in 2012, he was already in serious condition. He became bedridden in 2013 and passed away on December 13, 2013.
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