Jiamusi Police Department Takes Eight of Ms. Ma Duo's Family Members and Friends into Custody

Ms. Ma Duo, a 26-year-old practitioner, has been sentenced to three years in prison by the Jiamusi Suburban Court. Ms. Ma and her family have appealed the case. They hired lawyers from Beijing to defend Ms. Ma. When the lawyers and Ms. Ma's family went to the Jiamusi City Intermediate Court to process the paperwork for representing Ms. Ma, a dozen plain-clothes police officers took Ms. Ma's relatives into custody right in front of the lawyers.

According to eyewitnesses, the police also took away three or four more people near a hospital outside the Jiamusi City Intermediate Court. A total of about eight of Ms. Ma Duo's family and friends have been taken into custody and held at the Jiamusi Detention Centre.

When the lawyers returned the case files to the intermediate court after making photocopies, several of the plain-clothes police insisted on talking with the lawyers alone. The lawyers told them, "We are here for normal business. If you want to talk, let's talk right here." The officers kept pestering the two lawyers for over two hours and finally let them go after the lawyers said that they were hungry and needed to get some food. Ms. Ma Duo, born in 1982, was a talented teacher at the Qianli School in Jiamusi City. She often explained the facts about Falun Gong to help dispel the lies of Communist propaganda. She was turned in to the authorities, and this led to her subsequent dismissal by Qianli School officials. She found a job at the Jiamusi Mobile Communications Company. She earned widespread respect at work for treating others with integrity and handling her job with responsibility.

At around 6:50 a.m. on December 13th, 2007, Teng Yan (male), deputy director of the Changhong Police Station affiliated with the Jiamusi Suburban Police Department, and two other officers broke into Ms. Ma's home. They took into custody Ms. Ma Duo's mother Ms. Qiu Yuxia. They also took a computer, over 2,000 yuan¹ in cash, and a deposit receipt worth 30,000 yuan. They even took possession of hair pieces that Ms. Ma had just bought. At around 10:00 a.m. the same day, Ms. Ma asked for a leave at work and it was approved. Shortly after she left, the three officers arrived at the company where she worked and demanded that Ms. Ma's manager turn her in. The leader of the Guangfu Sales Floor at the Jiamusi Mobile Communications Company called Ms. Ma and pretended that there was an emergency at work and that Ms. Ma should come back to handle it immediately. As soon as she returned, the three police officers took her into custody.

After Ms. Qiu's mother was abused in the detention centre, she was in critical condition. Officers of the local police station released her on December 17th after extorting 1,000 yuan from her. Ms. Qiu was forced to leave town and has nowhere to stay. Ms. Ma Duo has been held in custody for over seven months. She has been forced to engage in hard labour to produce crafts using toothpicks. The glue used in production has a strong smell and bad side-effects, but each inmate has to meet a quota. Guards at the detention centre have recently notified Ms. Ma's family that she appears to be suffering from oedema.

Song Peixia (female), in charge of Ms. Ma Duo's case at the Jiamusi City Intermediate Court: 86-454-8620162 (Office)
Xin Hui (male), director of Changhong Police Station: 86-13304541199 (Mobile)
Wang Jinbao (male), political instructor at the police station: 86-13845478888(Mobile)
Liu Dongming (male), deputy director of the police station: 86-13836657921(Mobile)

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2008/7/5/181462.html