(Minghui.org) A 54-year-old resident of Pingdu City, Shandong Province, was admitted to the Jinan Prison on February 26, 2024, to serve a seven-year term for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Ma Qin, a former teacher of Pingdu Development Zone Experimental School, was arrested on March 28, 2021 and taken to the Qingdao City Second Detention Center.
Judge Ou Xiaobin of the Huangdao District Court held a hearing of Ms. Ma’s case at the detention center on May 13, 2022. He attempted to lure her into renouncing Falun Gong by promising a lighter sentence. Ms. Ma refused to comply and insisted that she didn’t do anything wrong in practicing Falun Gong. Her lawyer entered a not guilty plea for her and demanded her acquittal.
The judge informed Ms. Ma’s lawyer on July 20, 2022 that she had been sentenced to seven years. When Ms. Ma received an official copy of her verdict five days later, she immediately filed an appeal with the Qingdao City Intermediate Court. While it is unclear whether the appeals court has ruled to uphold her original verdict, she was transferred to the Jinan Prison on February 26, 2024.
This is not the first time that Ms. Ma has been targeted for her faith. She was previously arrested on August 9, 2010 and escaped hours later. The police put her on the wanted list and kept harassing her family. They even arrested her husband on November 21 that year and detained him for one day. She had to live away from home for a few years to avoid arrest.
A Well-regarded Teacher
Ms. Ma suffered from psoriasis for years. Nothing helped relieve the painful skin condition, and she once attempted suicide by taking sleeping pills. She survived, only to face more health troubles in 2004 when a tumor grew on her leg. It caused excruciating pain. She tried many treatments, but none had much effect. After hearing about Falun Gong’s health benefits, she learned the practice in 2004 and was surprised to find that the tumor disappeared in three days. Her many other ailments, including psoriasis, lumbar spondylosis, frozen shoulder and gastrointestinal disease were all gone.
Living by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance, Ms. Ma stopped taking gifts from the parents of her students, even though it is commonplace in China for parents to gift teachers in exchange for more favorable treatment of their children. She asked her husband to drive her around on weekends to return the gifts that those parents dropped off at her home.
“You don’t need to give me any gifts or treat me with anything. I will take good care of each student,” she said to the parents.
Ms. Ma’s family overheard their neighbors comment more than once to her students’ parents who came looking for her, “This is Ms. Ma’s home. She’s a good teacher who treats her students fairly. She does not take gifts.”
Soon, the parents who lined up outside Ms. Ma’s home to give her gifts disappeared.
One student’s father always tried to give Ms. Ma cherries that he grew himself. “You are such a nice person. My daughter is so lucky to have such a great teacher as you. I will never forget it,” he said.
Related Reports:
Former Teacher Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison for Practicing Falun Gong
Judge Tries to Lure Falun Gong Practitioner into Pleading Guilty in Exchange for a Lighter Sentence
Shandong Woman Arrested for Her Faith After Son’s Engagement Party, Wedding Postponed
Failing to Arrest an Outstanding Teacher, Police in Sandong Province Arrest Her Husband Instead
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