Name: Ma Lina (马丽娜)
Gender: Female
Age: 53
Address: Huancui District, Weihai City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Unknown
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 24, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Shandong No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp (山东第一女子劳教所)
City: Weihai
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Forced labor, brainwashing, illegal sentencing, detention
(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ma Lina from Weihai Citywas arrested in May 2012 and illegally sentenced to forced labor in June. Though she was diagnosed with severe heart disease, the Shandong No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp still admitted her. The camp authorities didn't allow her family to visit for six months because she refused to renounce her faith in Falun Dafa.
Due to excessive hard labor, Ms. Ma's entire body became numb on January 14, 2013, and she could not move her limbs. She experienced palpitations whenever she heard a noise and was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Her family filed a lawsuit against the labor camp for violating the law. They also demanded that Ms. Ma be immediately released.
Ms. Ma Lina
Arrested in broad daylight
Ms. Ma has been illegally sentenced to forced labor three times, incarcerated for a total of eight years, and has suffered tremendously both physically and mentally.
She clarified the truth about the persecution of Falun Gong to two high school students at the Jiulong Building bus stop in the Economic-Technological Development Zone in Weihai City on the evening of May 24, 2012. Framed by the students, she was violently arrested by police officers of the Economic-Technological Development Zone Police Station and was detained. She was later sentenced to two years of forced labor by officials from the Weihai Forced Labor Bureau without going through any legal formalities.
Forced to do hard labor and deprived of visitation rights
Ms. Ma was taken to the Shandong No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp on June 17, 2012, by police officers Zhang Weisheng and Yu Jinchao. She was examined many times at the Armed Police Hospital and was diagnosed with severe heart disease. The forced labor camp officials refused to admit her. Officer Zhang and Yu used their connections and bribed high ranking officials in order to get Ms. Ma admitted to the camp. Claiming that they would be “observing her for three months,” the labor camp admitted Ms. Ma and has detained her to this day.
Other than being forced to do hard labor every day, Ms. Ma is also being brainwashed in spite of her heart disease and is being severely tortured mentally. According to Ms. Ma, she is not allowed to rest even though her health is extremely poor. She was often put on overtime and forced to meet a high quota. As a result, her vision has declined rapidly and all her teeth have become loose. Additionally, the forced labor camp officials have not allowed her to take a shower for months and will not let her see a doctor.
During the six months that Ms. Ma has been detained in the Shandong No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp, the camp officials have openly deprived her of visitation rights because she will not sign the agreement to give up practicing Falun Dafa. Her family members have traveled between Jinan City and Weihai City, more than 20 times (a total of 10,000 li—approximately 3100 miles), hoping to visit Ms. Ma, whose life is in danger, but were not allowed to see her. Their demand that Ms. Ma be released was also turned down.
Committed to rescuing Ms. Ma, her family filed a lawsuit against the forced labor camp
In order to rescue Ms. Ma, her family went to many places to appeal and ask for help, yet the law enforcement agency officials concealed the truth. When her husband went to the police station on May 26, 2012, and demanded that Ms. Ma be released, he was arrested and illegally detained for 10 days. Her family took the lawyer's suggestion and went to the office of the Administrative Reconsideration Committee in Weihai City to petition for a revocation of the sentence on July 27. They also demanded that Ms. Ma be released immediately. The Administrative Reconsideration Committee authorities issued a decision on September 25, ignoring the four strong points that the lawyer had raised to defend Ms. Ma, taking sides with the Forced Labor Bureau in Weihai and making an unlawful judgement against her.
According to the Administrative Reconsideration Decision: “Applicants who are not satisfied with the decision may appeal by filing an administrative lawsuit to the court within 15 days from the date of receipt of the written decision.” Ms. Ma's family went to the Weihai Torch Hi-tech District Court (this court holds the administrative litigation jurisdiction of the Weihai City Government) on October 8, 2012, and filed a lawsuit against the Weihai Forced Labor Bureau. The staff person who received them at the Prosecution Court claimed that their superiors had notified them to not file any case related to Falun Gong. Ms. Ma's family demanded to know which agency were they referring to as their “superiors” and asked to see the written document that states file cases related to Falun Gong are not to be filed. Presiding judge Jiao Wei said that the Weihai Torch Hi-tech District Court could not show the written document and that it was an internal notification to not accept any case related to Falun Gong.
Since there was nowhere else to go and no other channel through which to appeal Ms. Ma's case, her family hired a lawyer and filed a lawsuit against the Shandong No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp for breaking the law and illegally detaining, enslaving, and persecuting lawful citizens.
Ms. Ma's husband and the lawyer visited Ms. Ma at 11 a.m. on January 17, 2013. She had become extremely weak due to the persecution. Her family questioned team lead Xu, who was present at the time, why all of Ms. Ma's teeth were loose. Xu said shamelessly, “That is very normal. Her teeth will all fall out when she's 80.” Xu also lied and said that the team leads were not aware of Ms. Ma's health condition.
During the half hour visit, Ms. Ma's daughter held her mother's hand the entire time and noticed that her hand never warmed up.
Ms. Ma's husband and the lawyer again visited her at 3 p.m. that afternoon as part of the legal procedure. Team lead Xu didn't allow them to talk about Falun Gong and didn't allow Ms. Ma to sign any legal document, or she threatened to end the visit. The lawyer read out loud the “Administrative Complaint” to Ms. Ma and three guards who were present, and asked them whether the content of the complaint was true to the facts. Guard Zhao argued that there was no compulsory labor and that the family was allowed to visit in less than six months. The camp officials also stated that they were willing to be investigated by the court and go through a fair trial. Yet, after Ms. Ma's family and the lawyer returned home after the visit, the forced labor camp officials called the family's local police to put pressure on the family and the lawyer in an attempt to prevent them from investigating the forced labor camp and obtaining evidence.
Those who participated and are responsible for the persecution of Ms. Ma Lina in the Shandong No. 1 Women's Forced Labor Camp:
Xu, team lead of No. 3 Ward, Police Registration Number 3732098
Li, Management Section, Police Registration Number 3732109
