(Minghui.org) A well-respected retired teacher was arrested early this February for advising a fellow villager to not aid in the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to slander Falun Gong. Back in 2006, she had spent one year in a forced labor camp simply for persisting in her belief in Falun Gong.
When she was tried on September 2, seven months after her arrest, she reiterated her determination to continue her practice of Falun Gong, as she saw nothing wrong with her belief. Many local residents were present to show their support for her.
Before her retirement, Ms. Ma Yueqin taught for decades at Linyin County Central Elementary School. She was “Teacher of the Year” almost every year during her tenure there.
Simply for upholding her belief in Falun Gong, Ms. Ma was reported to the 610 Office by a local party secretary named Cao Ping in 2006. She was incarcerated at Shibali Labor Camp in Zhengzhou City for a year.
While out and about on February 21 this year, she caught fellow villager Li Tietou removing the dark paint that some local Falun Gong practitioners had placed over slanderous slogans on the bulletin board. She immediately urged him to not aid in the CCP efforts to defame Falun Gong. Li then reported her to the police.
Chief of Guxiang Town Police Station led several officers to scale the fence and broke into Ms. Ma's house that night. They confiscated materials exposing the persecution of Falun Gong and arrested her.
The police chief slapped Ms. Ma in the face after taking her to the police station. Her face soon became swollen.
Ms. Ma's husband Tai Baoyu rushed back home upon learning of his wife's arrest. Their son, who works in a different province hundreds of miles away, also returned home to help seek his mother's release.
Judge Qi Yaofeng refused to acquit Ms. Ma, and she remains incarcerated at a local detention center.
