(Minghui.org) A 77-year-old retired teacher finished serving one year in prison for her faith in Falun Gong, only to find that her pension had been stopped during her imprisonment. She was told that her pension will not be reinstated.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Feng Guangyun, a resident of Mengyin County, Shandong Province, moved in with her son in Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province a few years ago to help care for her grandchild. She was arrested in Guangzhou on March 16, 2018 after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.
More than ten officers from Caihong Police Station ransacked her residence in Guangzhou and confiscated her Falun Gong books and related materials.
After Ms. Feng was brought to the police station, the officers sat her in an interrogation chair for one day without allowing her to sleep. She was sent to Guangzhou City No.1 Detention Center the next day and held incommunicado for the next nine months before she was tried.
Her family members went to the detention center almost once every month, but were never allowed to see her. The guards also refused to accept the clothes they had brought for her.
Ms. Feng appeared in Liwan District Court in December 2018. Her husband and son attended the hearing, but her daughter-in-law was barred from entering the courtroom.
Judge Cai Zhengyao didn't allow Ms. Feng to defend herself, sentenced her to one year in prison and fined her 5,000 yuan.
During the time when Ms. Feng was imprisoned, her husband, also in his 70s, couldn't eat or sleep well. He developed some stomach and heart conditions as a result.
The elderly couple returned to their own home in Shandong Province after Ms. Feng was released, only to find that her pension had been suspended.
When they went to the social security office to inquire about her pension, an official told Ms. Feng that the higher-ups had ordered them to terminate all Falun Gong practitioners' pensions once they are sentenced to prison for not renouncing their spiritual belief.
Related report:
Linyi City, Shandong Province: 34 Falun Gong Practitioners Still Incarcerated for Their Faith
