(Minghui.org) After serving six years in prison and being subjected to constant physical and mental abuses because of upholding his faith in Falun Gong, Mr. Wang Xingkai found his pension payments stopped in January 2020.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since 1999.
Mr. Wang, 70, worked at a school in Kaizhou District, Chongqing. Because both he and his wife, Ms. Yi Weixiang, refused to renounce Falun Gong, the local education bureau ordered his school to fire him. The then-principal strongly opposed the order, as Mr. Wang was an excellent employee, but the principal was still forced to demote Mr. Wang, reduce his salary, and give him one year of probation.
Mr. Wang was later jailed for six years for his faith. Four years after he was released from prison, his current school principal stripped him of his pension, citing a new regulation mandating that all Falun Gong practitioners return the pension benefits given to them during their imprisonment, and those who have no funds to pay must have the sum deducted from their future pension benefits.
Sentenced to Six Years and Subjected to Barbaric Torture
Mr. Wang was arrested on August 15, 2009. The police confiscated his Falun Gong books, computer, more than 2,000 yuan in cash and other belongings.
Both Mr. Wang and his wife were brought to Kai County Detention Center and subjected to interrogation and verbal abuse. The officers also slapped them in the face when they refused to answer their questions.
After one month of detention, Ms. Yi was released and Mr. Wang remained in custody.
Mr. Wang was sentenced to six years in Yudu Prison by the Kai County Court in December 2010. He was deprived of all freedom and basic rights, as the inmates monitored him around the clock and tortured him with various methods, such as forcing him to sit on a small stool and stand, squat, or walk non-stop for hours to try to force him to renounce his faith.
As Mr. Wang still refused to give up Falun Gong after four months of such torture, the guards began to order the inmates to beat him.
A guard named Fan Xuan dragged Mr. Wang to the restroom, pushed him against the wall, and then struck him in the mouth with a table tennis paddle. His front teeth were knocked out. Fan also squeezed his mouth and made a few more of his teeth become loose. Fan also hit him in the abdomen, leaving him in tremendous pain.
In addition to the physical torture, the guards and inmates forced Mr. Wang to watch videos demonizing Falun Gong and read statements from others renouncing Falun Gong.
When Mr. Wang remained firm in his faith, the inmates beat him even harder.
At one time, an inmate kicked Mr. Wang so hard that he was tossed forward for more than three feet and the inmate himself also fell to the ground.
Another inmate hit Mr. Wang's lower legs with a table tennis paddle and didn't stop even when he began to bleed. The inmate continued to strike his legs, ankles, and fingers for a few hours. His pants were soaked with blood.
The beatings eventually caused Mr. Wang to lose hearing in the right ear. His memory also deteriorated.
In 2013, Mr. Wang was transferred from the third to the sixth ward. A group of four, including guards and inmates, were assigned to monitor him around the clock.
He was forced to “study” brainwashing materials for 15-20 hours each day, while being verbally abused, beaten, and starved. Sometimes the guards took off his pants and whipped him with a bamboo or metal stick. Then they applied spicy oil on the wounds, causing excruciating pain.
At one point, the guards didn’t allow him to sleep for six days. As soon as he closed his eyes, they slapped him in the face and poked him in the legs, buttocks, and hands with a needle. They called it “acupuncture therapy.”
Mr. Wang was released in 2015.
Pension Stripped
In November 2019, Mr. Wang was summoned to school to meet with his principal, who demanded that he sign some paperwork allowing the school to deduct from his future pension benefits the amount of pension benefits that had been disbursed to him during his six years of imprisonment. Mr. Wang said it was his right to receive his hard-earned pension benefits, but the principal said it was a new regulation applying to all Falun Gong practitioners imprisoned for their faith.
Pressured by the principal, Mr. Wang signed the paperwork against his will. He found that his pension benefits were stopped in January 2020.
