 |
|
Photo: One page of Ma Yongqin’s lawsuit
(Source: China Aid)
|
China Aid
By Ava Collins
(Queens, NY—Sept. 4, 2015) Ma Yongqin, a Chinese woman currently living in the US, has filed a lawsuit against Xi Jinping, the President of the People’s Republic of China.
Ma explained to China Aid that she has been tortured by Chinese authorities on several occasions, often being illegally detained while attempting to file petitions in Chinese courts and government offices. In 2006, both she and her six-year-old son were beaten while in detention and given very little food. Ma stated, “My son was constantly crying because of the starvation and suffered epileptic attacks several times a day.”
During January 2007, Ma was apprehended in Changchun and subsequently tortured in a small room, being hung from her wrists for nearly 20 hours, beaten across her ribs and chest, and choked with a plastic bag to the point of nearly passing out. Only two months later, she was detained again, this time in Beijing for 37 days, during which time officers fractured her arm and denied her hospital treatment. She says her arm is still abnormally bent to this day.
 |
|
Photo: One page of Ma Yongqin’s lawsuit
(Source: China Aid)
|
Ma states that she was caught in Beijing again in 2012 when police officers began gathering petitioners and forcing them onto buses. Ma refused, and was beaten until she passed out. Most recently, in January 2015, seven officers demanded to see her ID and then proceeded to beat her. “Before I knew what happened, my ID card had been stolen, and someone had yanked the back of my shirt up over my head. All seven of them began beating me all over my body and my head felt like it was being pounded by a hammer.” After passing out, she was forcibly brought back to Changchun, then illegally detained for 20 days without any legal processing.
Ma claims these are only a few examples of the physical torture she has endured at the hands of Chinese courts and local government.
Ma filed her lawsuit on September 3 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.chinaaid.org
