(Minghui.org) On September 8, Ma Chunmei, a Falun Gong practitioner from Washington D.C., protested in front of the Chinese Embassy, and called for help to rescue her sister, Ma Chunling, who was arrested in China for practicing Falun Gong. Despite the rain, D.C. Falun Gong practitioners joined in to support Ma Chunmei's appeal.

Ma Chunling is a sales representative at an insurance company in Dalian, China. She was arrested on August 29, 2012, by officers from Zhanbei Police Station in Dalian. Policemen searched her house, and took away two computers, one printer, three cell phones, and all the Falun Gong books and materials in her home. Ma Chunling is currently imprisoned at the Yaojia Detention Center.

 
Ma Chunling

Ma Chunling displaying her award for being a model employee at an insurance company in Dalian.

Falun Gong practitioners from Washington D.C. gather in the rain to support Ma Chunmei's efforts to rescue her sister.

On September 5, Ma Chunling was severely beaten by the police. She was injured and transferred from Jinjiajie Detention Center to Yaojia Detention Center. The police said that they beat her because her family members exposed her arrest on the internet. Ma Chunling's husband was also taken to the police station for an interrogation, and was released four hours later.

Ma Chunling's parents, who live in another province, went to see her, but the detention center turned them away.

Background

Ma Chunling started practicing Falun Gong in 1995. She went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in April 1999, and was arrested. She was held in Liaoyuan Detention Center. After one month and being forced to pay 6000 yuan, she was released.

On July 18, 1999, Ma Chunling and her husband (who is not a practitioner, but supports Falun Gong) went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong, and was arrested by officers from Xiuyue Police Station in Dalian. After being held in Yaojia Detention Center for 64 days, Ma Chunling was sent to the notorious Masanjia Labor Camp, and imprisoned there for one year. Her husband was detained for 66 days. After being forced to pay 7000 yuan, he was released, but he lost his job.

Ma Chunling's sister, Ma Chunmei, came to the U.S. two years ago. Before leaving China, Ma Chunmei had been arrested four times, and jailed in a labor camp for four years. In the labor camp, she was badly tortured. The Communist regime forced her husband to divorce her.

Another sister in the Ma family was also arrested. She had to leave home to escape the persecution, and remains homeless to avoid arrest.