(Minghui.org) Ms. Ma Ling filed a motion in mid-December 2025 to reconsider her case, after she lost appeal of a three-year wrongful sentence months earlier for practicing Falun Gong. The 68-year-old woman, who had been allowed to serve time at home due to her cancer diagnosis, was taken back into custody one week after she submitted the motion. She was issued a serious condition notice on her second day of prison admission, yet the authorities refused to release her on medical parole, claiming that she refused to plead guilty.
Ms. Ma, of Kunming City, Yunnan Province, was arrested on June 6, 2024, in a police sweep of local Falun Gong practitioners. Starting in November 2024, she began to experience abnormal vaginal bleeding. She was examined at three hospitals and was found to have a 5-cm (2-inch) tumor in her lower abdomen. She underwent a biopsy procedure on April 10, 2025, and it was confirmed that the tumor was cancerous.
The Xishan District Court sentenced Ms. Ma to three years and fined her 10,000 yuan on May 1, 2025. Due to her medical conditions, she was released on bail. She filed an appeal to the Kunming City Intermediate Court, which heard her case on September 4, 2025, and ruled to uphold her original verdict the next day.
On October 11, 2025, judge Yang Hui of the lower court delivered the appeals court’s ruling to Ms. Ma and said that given her medical conditions, she would be allowed to serve time at home on condition that she report to her local justice bureau every month and undergo physical exams as required.
Officer Luo Xiudong of the Zongshuying Police Station called Ms. Ma on October 20, 2025, ordering her to undergo a physical exam the following morning. Luo accompanied Ms. Ma to the exam and sent the results to the Kunming City Detention Center that afternoon. The detention center required an additional abdomen CT scan, a hemoglobin test, and a gynecological ultrasound. Luo took Ms. Ma to another hospital for these tests on October 23 and then sent the results to the detention center. Ms. Ma didn’t hear anything back from the police afterwards.
Ms. Ma went to the Kunming City Intermediate Court on December 16, 2025, to submit her motion to reconsider her case. The receptionist indicated that he could take her materials, but the decision to register her motion rests with the Case Acceptance Division. He added that a judge would contact her in one to two months.
Three days later, on December 19, judge Yang Hui of the first-instance court issued an order to arrest Ms. Ma on December 23. Her family called judge Yang on Monday, December 22, explaining that she was unfit for detention. Yang said the family didn’t have a say in the matter and then hung up. When the family called again, Yang stopped answering the phone.
On December 23, officer Luo took Ms. Ma to the Kunming City Detention Center. The guards initially refused to admit her, but relented after confirming that the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison would accept her in two days.
During the required physical exam for prison admission on December 25, Ms. Ma was found to have more than ten diseases, including cancer in the pelvic area, ovarian cysts, moderate anemia, high blood pressure, vaginal bleeding, fatty liver, chronic cholecystitis with gallbladder stones, stones in her left kidney, brain atrophy, aortic calcification, and atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. She was admitted to the Yunnan Provincial Prison Administration Central Hospital the next day and issued a serious condition notice.
When the family demanded her release on medical parole, a guard surnamed Wang refused, and claimed the prison had protocols that wouldn’t allow it. But the prison couldn’t cite any details about these “protocols.” Wang ordered the family to keep their cell phones on, but warned them not to call her work phone. Even if they did call, no one would answer it.
The family submitted an “Application to Serve Time Outside of Prison” on December 29, but didn’t receive any response from the prison.
Another guard called Ms. Ma’s family on January 3, 2026, and asked them to send 200 yuan for her to buy sanitary pads. When The family asked about Ms. Ma’s condition, the guard said they hadn’t heard anything from the hospital.
Guard Wang called the family again on January 6 to given them another account to make cash deposit for Ms. Ma. The family asked about her treatment plan, but Wang signaled that revealing such information might violate Ms. Ma’s privacy. The family asked Wang to pass their request for information to the prison hospital and warned that they’d hold the hospital accountable if Ms. Ma’s condition worsened. Wang emphasized that Ms. Ma was receiving proper care at the prison hospital.
Since Ms. Ma’s family didn’t receive any response regarding the “Application to Serve Time Outside of Prison,” they went to the Yunnan Province Prison Administration Bureau on January 13 to seek help. They submitted another copy of the application and the receptionist promised to forward the information to the prison.
Three days later on January 16, guard Wang and a prison doctor called Ms. Ma’s family. They blamed Ms. Ma for not cooperating with the treatment. The family asked for the treatment plan and whether Ms. Ma refused to take the medicine because it made her feel worse. The doctor responded that she was not obligated to reveal details about the treatment to the family. She added that the family could file a complaint and that she was just calling to inform them that Ms. Ma had refused the medicine.
Ms. Ma’s family also received a call from judge Li of the Kunming City Intermediate Court on January 16, asking about her motion to reconsider her case. The family informed judge Li of Ms. Ma’s prison admission and urged him to help release her on medical parole.
On January 19, guard Wang called Ms. Ma’s family and told them that the Ninth Division had decided that she wasn’t qualified to serve time outside of prison. When the family asked what disqualified Ms. Ma from it, guard Wang claimed that it was because she didn’t cooperate with the treatment. The family again questioned whether the treatment was making Ms. Ma feel worse. Wang then added that another reason was because Ms. Ma refused to plead guilty and it was a critical factor in the prison’s decision.
Ms. Ma’s family reported the call with guard Wang to the appeals court the next day. Judge Li said his job was to persuade Ms. Ma to withdraw her motion. He promised to forward the relevant information to the case acceptance division, who would then decide what the next step would be.
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