(Minghui.org) Ms. Ma Ling was issued two serious condition notices, but the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison nonetheless refused to release her on medical parole.
Ms. Ma, a 69-year-old resident of Kunming City, Yunnan Province, was admitted to the prison on December 25, 2025, to serve a three-year sentence for practicing Falun Gong. She was found to have more than ten diseases upon admission and was issued a serious condition notice the next day.
Doctor Li, of the prison’s Ninth Division, called Ms. Ma’s family on April 24, 2026, saying that Ms. Ma was discharged from the Yunnan Provincial Prison Administration Central Hospital on March 13 and had a physical exam at the Yan’an Hospital on April 20. He added that Ms. Ma’s ovarian tumor had grown to approximately nine centimeters in diameter. In addition, she was found to have a tumor in her gastrointestinal tract that was already in an advanced stage. Li suspected that the gastrointestinal tumor was the primary tumor and the ovarian tumor was a secondary metastasis. Ms. Ma also had mild anemia.
After the checkup at the Yan’an Hospital, Ms. Ma was hospitalized at the prison’s in-house medical facility.
Ms. Ma’s family submitted another request on April 27, requesting that she be released on medical parole. On May 8, they received another call from the prison, telling them that Ms. Ma had been having a fever and a bloated abdomen since May 5, and that she was admitted to the Yunnan Provincial Prison Administration Central Hospital on May 7.
The family asked if the prison had made a decision about their parole request submitted on April 27. The caller didn’t give a clear answer, but said that the prison would “follow the protocol.”
The prison hospital issued a serious condition notice for Ms. Ma on May 9. Her fever was persisting but the doctor couldn’t figure out what caused it. Ms. Ma called her family that day. She said the prison offered chemotherapy, but she insisted that she be released on medical parole. The prison has not yet replied to her request.
Ms. Ma was arrested on June 6, 2024, in a police sweep of local Falun Gong practitioners. Starting in November 2024, she began to experience abnormal vaginal bleeding. She was examined at three hospitals and found to have a 5-cm (2-inch) tumor in her lower abdomen. She underwent a biopsy procedure on April 10, 2025, and it was confirmed that the tumor was cancerous.
The Xishan District Court sentenced Ms. Ma to three years and fined her 10,000 yuan on May 1, 2025. Due to her medical conditions, she was released on bail. She filed an appeal to the Kunming City Intermediate Court, which heard her case on September 4, 2025, and ruled to uphold her original verdict the next day.
Judge Yang Hui of the first-instance court issued an order on December 19 to arrest Ms. Ma on December 23. Her family called judge Yang on December 22, explaining that she was unfit for detention. Yang said the family didn’t have a say in the matter and then hung up. When the family called again, Yang stopped answering the phone.
On December 23, officer Luo took Ms. Ma to the Kunming City Detention Center. The guards initially refused to admit her, but relented after confirming that the Yunnan Province Second Women’s Prison would accept her in two days.
Ms. Ma was admitted to the prison on December 25 as scheduled. She was found to have more than ten diseases during the physical exam, including cancer in the pelvic area, ovarian cysts, moderate anemia, high blood pressure, vaginal bleeding, fatty liver, chronic cholecystitis with gallbladder stones, stones in her left kidney, brain atrophy, aortic calcification, and atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis. She was transferred to the Yunnan Provincial Prison Administration Central Hospital the next day and issued a serious condition notice.
When the family demanded her release on medical parole, a guard surnamed Wang refused, and claimed the prison had protocols that wouldn’t allow it. But the prison couldn’t cite any details about these “protocols.” Wang ordered the family to keep their cell phones on, but warned them not to call her work phone. Even if they did call, no one would answer it.
The family submitted an “Application to Serve Time Outside of Prison” on December 29, but didn’t receive any response from the prison.
Another guard called Ms. Ma’s family on January 3, 2026, and asked them to send 200 yuan for her to buy sanitary pads. When the family asked about Ms. Ma’s condition, the guard said they hadn’t heard anything from the hospital.
Guard Wang called the family again on January 6 to ask for another cash deposit for Ms. Ma. The family asked about her treatment plan, but Wang signaled that revealing such information might violate Ms. Ma’s privacy. The family asked Wang to pass their request for information to the prison hospital and warned that they’d hold the hospital accountable if Ms. Ma’s condition worsened. Wang claimed that Ms. Ma was receiving proper care at the prison hospital.
Since Ms. Ma’s family didn’t receive any response regarding the “Application to Serve Time Outside of Prison,” they went to the Yunnan Province Prison Administration Bureau on January 13 to seek help. They submitted another copy of the application, and the receptionist promised to forward the information to the prison.
Three days later on January 16, guard Wang and a prison doctor called Ms. Ma’s family. They blamed Ms. Ma for not cooperating with the treatment. The family asked for the treatment plan, and asked whether Ms. Ma refused to take the medicine because it made her feel worse. The doctor responded that she was not obligated to reveal details about the treatment to the family. She added that the family could file a complaint, and that she was just calling to inform them that Ms. Ma had refused the medicine.
On January 19, guard Wang called Ms. Ma’s family and told them that the Ninth Division had decided that she wasn’t qualified to serve time outside of prison. When the family asked what disqualified her, guard Wang claimed that it was because she didn’t cooperate with the treatment. The family again questioned whether the treatment was making Ms. Ma feel worse. Wang then added that another reason was because Ms. Ma refused to plead guilty, which was a critical factor in the prison’s decision.
The prison’s petition office contacted Ms. Ma’s family on January 23, as a follow up to their visit to the Yunnan Province Prison Administration Bureau on January 13. The petition office repeated the prison’s decision to bar Ms. Ma from from serving time outside of prison, because of her “not cooperating with the treatment.” However, the family confirmed that the petition office didn’t perform any evaluation of Ms. Ma’s medical condition or what treatment she was given or “not cooperating with.”
The person from the petition office agreed that he would take a deeper look at Ms. Ma’s case, but the family didn’t receive any further information from him.
Ms. Ma called her family on February 12, shortly before the Chinese New Year. She said that she had been staying in the prison hospital since her admission, and asked her family not to worry about her.
The family requested on March 23 that the Yunnan Province Prison Administration Bureau disclose the information that led to the prison’s decision to deny their request to allow Ms. Ma to serve her sentence outside of prison. They also requested to know what evidence the prison had to accuse her of “not cooperating with the treatment.”
The prison administration bureau replied on April 20, saying that according to prison law, prisons serve as the law-enforcement agencies, and that information generated through the enforcement of laws does not fall under the category of government information, and therefore cannot be disclosed to the public. But the family was free to reach out to the prison for more information.
The family didn’t receive any further information about Ms. Ma after talking to her on the phone on February 12. They were allowed to visit her in the prison on April 10. She said she had been taken back to the prison on March 13, that she had loose bowels in early April, and she had already seen a doctor about it.
Only days after the call, Ms. Ma was found to have an advanced-stage tumor in her gastrointestinal tract. When she called her family on May 9, her voice was weaker.
Ms. Ma’s family demanded that the prison immediately release her.
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