Overview

• Matthew Radalj, an Australian citizen, endured five years in Beijing No. 2 Prison, facing physical torture, forced labour, and inhumane conditions after a coerced confession to robbery.
• Upon arrest in January 2020, Radalj was beaten for two days, deprived of food and water, and pressured into signing a false confession under a system with a near-100% conviction rate.
• Prison conditions included overcrowded cells, food deprivation, manipulated behaviour points systems, and 194 days of solitary confinement in a bare, windowless cell.
• Radalj secretly documented his experiences by writing on peeled Covid masks, smuggling the journal out upon his release in October 2024, despite intense scrutiny from prison guards.
• Now back in Perth, Radalj is recovering and dedicating his time to lobbying embassies and connecting families of other foreign prisoners with their loved ones still incarcerated in China.