Ms. Ma Lina Sentenced to Forced Labour; Husband Detained for Requesting Her Release

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ma Lina from Weihai City, Shandong Province, was arrested on May 24th, 2012, and sentenced to 2 years of forced labour for speaking to people about Falun Gong. When her husband, Mr. Shen Songkun, went to the police station to request his wife’s release, officials detained him for 10 days.

Ms. Ma and Mr. Shen live in the Economic Development Zone of Weihai City. On the evening of May 24th, 2012, Ms. Ma and another practitioner, Ms. Yu Shuyun, went out to distribute informational materials and explain the facts about Falun Gong to people. They did not return home.

The next day, Ms. Ma’s husband and daughter went to the Economic Development Zone Police Department to inquire about her whereabouts. An officer told them to check with the Huangguan Police Station, so they went there. At the police station, an officer told them that agents from the Economic Development Zone Domestic Security Division had arrested two women for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong around 9:30 p.m. on May 24th.

Yu Jinchao from the Domestic Security Division subsequently came to the Huangguan Police Station and confirmed to Mr. Shen that Ms. Ma Lina and Ms. Yu Shuyun had been arrested. He also told Mr. Shen to go to the Weihai City Detention Centre to identify his wife. Mr. Shen and his daughter went there the same afternoon, but the guards would not let them see Ms. Ma; they only accepted the clothing that Mr. Shen brought for his wife.

Around 9 a.m. on May 26th, Mr. Shen went to the Huangguan Police Station again to request his wife’s release. However, he was told to inquire at the Domestic Security Division, which is attached to the Economic Development Zone Police Department. He went there and appealed to the officials: “My wife didn’t commit any crime. She just gave people Falun Gong materials and told them the facts. This is her right of free speech. Please release her immediately. We have elderly parents to take care of and an infant grandson to look after. My family cannot go on without her. How can you arrest and detain her without a reason?” While he was speaking, four police officers suddenly came up and forcibly took him back to the Huangguan Police Station.

At the police station, Yu Jinchao and Feng Lei from the Domestic Security Division created a false record without listening to Mr. Shen’s actual statement or having him sign the paperwork. Then they arrested Mr. Shen with the claim that he had “disturbed the social order” and sent him to a detention centre. He was detained for 10 days and released on June 5th.

After Mr. Shen was released, he learned that his wife had been sentenced to 2 years of forced labour and transferred to Jinan Women’s Forced Labour Camp.