Steadfast in Falun Gong, Ms. Ma Jun Still Detained in Prison After Ten Years

Name: Ma Jun
Gender: Female
Age: 63
Address: Lanzhou City, Gansu Province
Occupation: Retired officer

Most recent place of detention: Gansu Province Women's Prison
City: Lanzhou
Province: Gansu
Persecution Suffered:Detention, imprisonment, brainwashing, beatings, solitary confinement, force-feedings, torture, sleep deprivation, forced to stand still for long periods of time, denied visitation.

In 2006, Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ma Jun was sentenced to ten years in prison. She was detained in Gansu Province Women's Prison, where she still remains. Since July 20th, 1999, Ms. Ma has been arrested and detained many times. She has spent nearly all of the past ten-plus years in prison, detention centres, and brainwashing centres, where she has been tortured.

Ms. Ma Jun was a retired officer of Jincheng Travel Service Group. She began practising Falun Gong in 1995. She was once a voluntary teaching assistant at the Plaza West Gate Falun Gong practice site, the biggest practice site in Lanzhou.

In the late night of July 20th, 1999, Ms. Ma Jun was arrested by police at her home and detained for over six months.

In December 1999, Ms. Ma went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong and was detained. She went on a hunger strike for five days, and was only released on the ninth day of her detention.

On January 16th, 2000, Ms. Ma went to a Falun Gong group practice and was arrested by police from the Chengguan Police Branch and was detained in Chengguan District Detention Centre in Dashaping. On February 21st, 2000, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced her arrest for participating in a Falun Gong group practice and for going to Beijing to appeal. On October 21st, 2001, Ms. Ma went on a hunger strike and was once sent to an emergency room in the detention centre hospital. After Ms. Ma was detained in Chengguan District Detention Centre for over two years, she was sentenced to three years in Luoguoguo Women's Prison by a CCP court.

Sent to a Brainwashing Centre the Scheduled Day of Her Release

On January 16th, 2003, on the day of her release, Ms. Ma was forcibly sent to Chengguan District Brainwashing Centre in Gaolanshan, Lanzhou, by police from the Chengguan Police Branch. In the brainwashing centre, she was beaten by a guard named Liu Jianping and was injured. On April 24th, 2003, Ms. Ma was transferred to Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre. She successfully escaped twice; however, she was arrested again each time and was beaten.

In July 2004, Ms. Ma was transferred from the brainwashing centre to Gansu Province Women's Prison. Since they could not come up with an excuse to keep her in prison, they had to send her back to Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre. In an attempt to force her to write the "three statements" to renounce practising Falun Gong and "transform," [forcibly renounce Falun Gong] CCP authorities tortured her brutally in a solitary room. Ms. Ma was steadfast in her faith, and refused to be brainwashed.

Sentenced to Prison for Ten Years

In the afternoon on February 24th, 2006, Falun Gong practitioners Ma Jun, Fang Jianping, and Wei Zhouxiang went to Gongjiawan Brainwashing Centre to talk to CCP official Qi Ruijun about the benefits of Falun Gong, and tried to persuade him to stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Once Qi saw their Falun Gong materials, he took out his phone and made a call. Shortly, policeman Wei Dong and others from the 26th Section of the National Security Team in Lanzhou took the three of them away and detained them in the First Detention Centre in Lanzhou.

These three were detained separately in the detention centre. On orders by police team leader Tian Qingping, the guards force-fed Ms. Ma, seriously injuring her mouth and face. Her mouth was smashed and her face was swollen. She was forced to drink concentrated salt water. Afterward, Lanzhou Court sentenced Ma Jun and Wei Zhouxiang to ten years in prison, and Fang Jianping to eight years in prison. In early 2007 they were sent to Gansu Province Women's Prison.

Ms. Ma Beaten Frequently, Still Experiencing Abuse

After Ms. Ma Jun was detained in the Second Ward of the prison, she refused to do forced labour, and insisted on practising Falun Gong. She was shackled to the bed frame and was not allowed to sleep. Later on, more and more Falun Gong practitioners were sent there. In early 2005, a special ward was formed in the prison to specifically persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Afterward, they were sent to different wards to do forced labour. Ms. Ma refused to co-operate, and was detained in a small, solitary cell for over fifty days. She was only given one bun daily, and was not allowed to wash herself, or meet with her family. She was once forced to stand in the room for three days straight, without being allowed to sleep or sit down. Having not met their goal of "transforming" her, the guards had to transfer Ms. Ma to the Fourth Ward.

Ms. Ma was deprived of her right to meet with her family members, and to buy everyday necessities and health supplies. Two criminals monitored her around the clock, and they did not allow her to talk to others. In the forced labour area, Ms. Ma refused to do the forced labour, and instead recited the Falun Gong teachings. Once, after a guard saw Ms. Ma talking with other Falun Gong practitioners, the guards detained her in a special area, preventing her from meeting with other practitioners.

During the 2008 New Year, officers of the prison inspected the wards and required everyone to fold their blankets in a special way, like in the military. Ms. Ma refused to do it. Her blanket was then confiscated. For about a week during the cold winter, she was not allowed to have a blanket, and she had sleep in her own clothes.

In April 2008, Ms. Ma refused to wear a prison identity badge. Leader of the Ward, An Li, ordered criminal Li Xiaohong to beat Ms. Ma, and taught her how to beat her without leaving bruises. Ms. Ma was beaten until she vomited blood. Afterward she could not straighten her back for months.

In May 2008, Ms. Ma was detained in a small room again. The room was next to the washroom and was very wet. It only had a small window, and no sunlight came into the room. During the day, two criminal inmates were assigned to watch over her. At night one criminal inmate was assigned. The door of the room was always locked and nobody could get in or out freely.

Ms. Ma Jun is still detained in the Fourth Ward as of the beginning of November.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2010/11/3/231865.html