(Minghui.org) A 60-year-old native of Jingtai County, Gansu Province, was admitted to the Lanzhou Prison on November 4, 2024 to serve a 1.5-year term for his faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Mr. Ma Zufu, a former Chinese teacher at the Jingtai County First Middle School, was arrested at his rental place in Lanzhou (the capital city of Gansu Province) on July 13, 2024. While being held at the Jingtai County Detention Center, he was abused to the point of becoming severely depressed and dazed. He also developed heart palpitations and had difficulty walking. He stood trial on August 6 and was sentenced to 1.5 years at the end of the hearing. Despite his mental and physical health conditions, the authorities still transferred him to the Lanzhou Prison on November 4.
This is not the first time that Mr. Ma has been targeted for his faith. He was previously arrested multiple times and given two labor camp terms totaling four years. His latest arrest came ten years after he was forced into displacement to avoid the persecution.
Two Labor Camp Terms
Mr. Ma went to Beijing on January 4, 2000, to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. He was arrested and taken to the Gansu Province First Forced Labor Camp on August 20, 2000, to serve a one-year term. The authorities extended his term by 80 days and released him in March 2001.
Mr. Ma was arrested again four months later on July 20, 2001, by officers of the Jingtai County Police Department. He was given another three years at the Gansu Province First Forced Labor Camp.
In the labor camp, he was forced to do unpaid labor during the day and attend brainwashing sessions at night. Because he and other practitioners refused to renounce Falun Gong, the guards cuffed them between two metal bed frames, deprived them of sleep, hung them up, and held them in solitary confinement.
Forced to Live Away from Home
Five officers led by Lu Shouchen of the Jingtai County Police Department descended upon Mr. Ma’s home on the evening of May 31, 2012. They spent over one hour trying to pry open his door, but failed. They pounded on the door, and Mr. Ma refused to open the door for them. At around 10 p.m., the police called in a fire truck and they climbed into his home through the balcony. Mr. Ma and his wife, Ms. Hao Guofang, also a Falun Gong practitioner, were both arrested. The police confiscated their Falun Gong books and a portrait of Falun Gong’s founder. They then took the couple to the Jingtai County Police Department, restrained them on “tiger benches” and interrogated them.
Mr. Ma and Ms. Hao were transferred to the Jingtai County Detention Center and Baiyin City Detention Center, respectively, the next day. They were released on bail after 35 and 37 days, respectively.
Wang Cun, director of the Jingtai County Domestic Security Division, submitted the couple’s case to the Jingtai County Procuratorate in the second half of 2012. After the prosecutor returned the case, citing insufficient evidence, Wang fabricated more evidence against them.
The couple was summoned to the Jingtai County Court on July 4, 2014. Judge Jin Zhao read aloud their indictment and ordered the bailiff to handcuff them. Ms. Hao was taken to the Baiyin City Detention Center. Mr. Ma was denied admission to the detention center after he was found to have high blood pressure, a heart condition, cholecystitis, and gallstones. Judge Zhu Shengkai approved his bail release pending trial. To avoid being sentenced, he decided to live away from home to hide from the police, only to be arrested ten years later and sentenced to prison in just three weeks.
Ms. Hao was sentenced to three years on January 26, 2015, and transferred to the Lanzhou Women’s Prison on February 4, 2015.
Related Report:
Gansu Man Arrested After Ten Years in Displacement, Sentenced to Prison Three Weeks Later
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