Mr. Ma Chuncheng Arrested, Denied Family Visits

Mr. Ma Chuncheng, in his thirties, is a practitioner from Jixi City, Heilongjiang Province. At 11:00 p.m. on March 25th, 2009, officers from the Harbin City State Security Division and the Daqing City Police Department arrested him at a hotel in Daqing City. His family lost contact with him and came to Harbin City to find him. They learned that he had been arrested and was detained at the Daowai District Police Department Second Detention Centre in Harbin City.

Mr. Ma's parents and his sister worried that he would be brutally tortured, and they went to the Daowai District Police Department to request his release. They were told by two officials that they would be notified in three to twenty days. On April 8th, Mr. Ma's family went there again and got the news that Mr. Ma had been transferred to Fangzheng County, Harbin City. An officer in charge, Zhao Zhenghai, emphasized to his family that Mr. Ma's health condition was good as of that day, and the police in Fangzheng County would be responsible for his health afterwards. At about 10:00 a.m. on April 9th, Bai Wenjie, deputy chief of the Fangzheng County State Security Division, informed Mr. Ma's family that he was detained at the Fangzheng County First Detention Centre.

On April 27th, Mr. Ma's family went to the Fangzheng County Procuratorate, but they were told to wait until April 30th for the results from the police department. At 4:20 p.m. on April 30th, Bai Wenjie called his family to notify them that Mr. Ma had been formally arrested.

Although Mr. Ma's parents and sister live in Jixi City, they had to stay temporarily in a cheap hotel in Fangzheng County while requesting his release. They went to the Fangzheng County Police Department every day, but the police refused to release him or allow his family to see him.

Since Mr. Ma's arrest his family worries about his situation since they know the brutality of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners by the police from Fangzheng County Police Department. Mr. Ma's parents are in poor health. His father has pulmonary emphysema and has difficulty breathing. His mother has high blood pressure and often feels dizzy. Nonetheless, they insist on staying in Fangzheng County to seek help from kind people for their son's release. The police from the Fangzheng County State Security Division treat them rudely. They block them outside the entrance and refuse to meet with them. At times, Mr. Ma's family had to stand there waiting for several hours. Officers from the Fangzheng County Police Department also instigated officers from the local police station to harass Mr. Ma's family at their hotel at night and search their belongings, using the excuse of registration inspection.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/5/19/201209.html