Beijing Couple Faces Trial for Practicing Falun Gong

(Minghui.org) A married couple in Beijing are facing trial for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Mr. Tang Pingshun and Ms. Ma Xiuyun were arrested at home on June 9, 2022. Their computer, printer and Falun Gong books were confiscated. As the Chaoyang District Detention Center refused to accept them, they were then released on bail. 

The police harassed the couple on October 6, 2022 and ordered them not to go out to promote Falun Gong. Shortly after, the couple noticed two people staying outside of their home to monitor them. 

The couple was arrested again on October 12, 2022 and taken to the Chaoyang District Detention Center. Their arrests were approved on the same day and the police submitted their cases to the procuratorate on December 8. The prosecutor indicted them on January 6, 2023 and moved their cases to the Chaoyang District Court.

The couple’s daughter, who currently lives outside of China, called the Taiyanggong Police Station on October 17, 2022 asking why they arrested her parents. The police refused to provide any information. 

Prior to her latest arrest, Ms. Ma has served two labor camp terms for practicing Falun Gong.

She was first given a 1.5-year term in 2001. Because she refused to cooperate with the guards, she was hung up by the wrists for seven days and beaten every day. The guards didn’t give her any food or water. They also denied her use of the restroom, forcing her to relieve herself in her pants. After taking her down on the eighth day, the guards stripped her in front of a crowd and took her to the laundry room.

Torture reenactment: hung up

Ms. Ma was arrested again on May 23, 2008. Her home was ransacked. She was given 2.5 years of forced labor on June 19 that year. A labor camp in Beijing sold her to the Hubei Province Women’s Forced Labor Camp to do free labor. As she refused to renounce Falun Gong, she was forced to stand under the scorching sun for long hours.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Li Tang (李唐), prosecutor of Chaoyang District Procuratorate: [phone]Shi Yanming (石艳明), presiding judge of Chaoyang District Court: [phone]Song Feng (宋凤), chief of Taiyanggong Police Station: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)