(Minghui.org) Wuzhong Intermediate Court in Ningxia held an appeal trial for Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Ma Xiongde at 2:30pm on March 15, 2013. Mr. Ma's attorney submitted a not guilty plea. The trial lasted over three hours, and no decision was announced in the end.

Mr. Ma and his wife, Ms. Zheng Fengying, were followed and illegally arrested by officers from the Gucheng Police Station on September 1, 2012. They were detained in the Wuzhong Detention Center.

Mr. Ma was subsequently secretly sentenced to seven and a half years in prison by Litong District Court in Wuzhong. His wife was sentenced to seven years. They both appealed these unlawful verdicts.

On February 22, 2013, the Wuzhong Intermediate Court held the appeal trial for Ms. Zheng; her original sentence was maintained. On the very morning that Mr. Ma's appeal trial was to take place, his wife was transferred from the Wuzhong Detention Center to Yinchuan Women's Prison in Ningxia.

Background

Mr. Ma was formerly a worker in the labor department of Wuzhong Instrument Factory. Ms. Zheng was a retiree of the factory. In May 1997, the two started to practice Falun Gong. Their health dramatically improved shortly thereafter.

The communist regime started to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999. Since then, Mr. Ma and Ms. Zheng have been arrested, detained, and sent to forced labor camps and prison many times. They've had very little opportunity to spend time with their son over the past 14 years.

In November 2009, Qingtongxia Court intended to put three Falun Gong practitioners on trial. Ms. Zheng decided to leave home to avoid being arrested again in the face of intensified persecution in the region. She became homeless for about three years.

On September 1, 2012, Ms. Zheng planned to return home to get some belongings and contact relevant departments to reinstate her retirement wages, which had been suspended for a long time due to persecution. Shortly after she came back home, she and her husband were arrested, detained, and sentenced to prison.

Parties involved in the persecution:

Wuzhong Detention Center: +86-953-2242610
Wuzhong Intermediate Court: +86-953-2272298
He Shengjun, chief, Litong District Court in Wuzhong: +86-953-2037828 (Office), +86-13895257999 (Cell)
He Zhanzhong, director, Litong District Police Station,Wuzhong Police Department: +86-953-2021210 (Office), +86-13995139666 (Cell)
Ma Minglang, team leader, Domestic Security Division, Litong District Police Station: +86-953-201577
Gucheng Police Station in Wuzhong: +86-18998383009
Political and Legal Affairs Committee in Wuzhong: +86-953-2122275
Litong District Procuratorate in Wuzhong: +86-953-2012254
Wuzhong Police Station

Related articles:

“The Persecution of Ms. Zheng Fengying and Her Husband Over the Past Decade” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2010/2/4/114424.html

"Practitioner Couple Mr. Ma Xunde and Ms. Zheng Fengying Arrested”
http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2012/9/29/135629.html

“Ms. Zheng Fengying from Ningxia Secretly Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison” http://en.minghui.org/html/articles/2013/3/1/138327.html