Australian Describes Life in Chinese Prison

(MENAFN) Matthew Radalj, an Australian citizen, spent five years in the Beijing No 2 prison, a facility known for housing international detainees.

He has publicly shared the horrific conditions he endured, including sharing cramped cells with a dozen other prisoners, constant sleep deprivation, and 24-hour lighting in the cells.

The poor sanitation and forced labor were additional brutalities that prisoners had to endure.

Radalj, now residing outside China, opened up about his experience, revealing not only physical abuse but also psychological torment, food deprivation, and being subjected to forced labor.

A news agency was able to verify Radalj’s account through testimonies from other former inmates who were incarcerated during the same period.

Many of these individuals chose to remain anonymous due to fears of retaliation against family members still in China. Some simply wished to leave the past behind and move on from the traumatic experiences they had faced.

The Chinese government has yet to respond to the news agency’s request for a statement regarding these claims.

Reflecting on his initial days in detention, Radalj described being in a very poor condition when he first arrived.

“I was in really bad shape when I arrived. They beat me for two days straight in the first police station that I was in. I hadn't slept or eaten or had water for 48 hours and then I was forced to sign a big stack of documents,” he recounted.

This ordeal began on January 2, 2020, when Radalj was arrested after a dispute with shopkeepers at an electronics market over the cost of fixing a mobile phone screen.

Radalj maintains that he was wrongfully convicted of robbery, a charge he claims was falsely fabricated.

He alleged that, under intense pressure and in a system where criminal convictions are almost always guaranteed, he was coerced into signing a false confession in hopes of reducing his prison sentence.

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