Yunnan Kunming Falun Gong practitioner Ma Ling, sentenced to 3 years, receives a second serious illness notice in prison; family’s request to serve her sentence outside prison is fobbed off

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On May 12, 2026, this website learned: Ma Ling, a Falun Gong practitioner from Kunming, Yunnan, who was sentenced to three years, had received a second serious illness notice in prison, while her family’s request for her to serve her sentence outside prison was fobbed off.

On May 8, 2026, police officers and doctors from the Ninth Prison District of Yunnan Province No. 2 Women’s Prison informed her family by telephone that Ma Ling had developed a fever and abdominal distension on May 5, and that the prison had sent Ma Ling to the Central Hospital of the Yunnan Provincial Prison Administration Bureau for hospitalization on May 7. On May 9, the central hospital issued Ma Ling a serious illness notice, saying that her overall physical condition was very poor and that she was still running a fever, the cause of which was still being investigated. However, regarding the family’s previous application for her to serve her sentence outside prison, Yunnan No. 2 Women’s Prison continued to fob them off with excuses such as “it will be handled according to procedure.”

Ma Ling is 69 years old this year. She is a retired associate research librarian at the Yunnan University Library, had previously suffered more than ten years of imprisonment and persecution, and was arrested and framed again in June 2024, receiving a three-year prison sentence.

Ma Ling: A female Falun Gong practitioner from Kunming, Yunnan; born in 1957; 69 years old in 2026; retired associate research librarian at the Yunnan University Library. On June 6, 2024, under the direction of the Kunming Municipal Public Security Bureau, the Xishan District Public Security Sub-Bureau of Kunming was responsible for the operation. The Xishan District Domestic Security Brigade, Wuhua District Domestic Security Brigade, Panlong District Domestic Security Brigade, Guandu District Domestic Security Brigade, and multiple police stations under them, principally the Zongshuying Police Station in Xishan District, mobilized their forces to arrest Falun Gong practitioners. The police said that this abduction operation was the “1.6 Special Case.” More than 30 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested, including Ma Ling. She was subsequently criminally detained and later formally arrested and prosecuted. The Xishan District Court held a trial on March 26, 2025. In early May, Ma Ling was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 10,000 yuan; her sentence runs until June 5, 2027. She is being held at Yunnan Province No. 2 Women’s Prison to serve her sentence.