(Minghui.org) After having been incarcerated for four years and having her spine deformed from torture in custody, a 75-year-old woman was arrested again on February 20, 2021 for her faith in Falun Gong.
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. Mei Yufeng
Ms. Mei Yufeng, of Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, was stopped by several plainclothes police officers and three staff members from the local residential committee outside of her apartment building when she returned from grocery shopping on February 20. The officers pushed her into a car and took her to the local police station.
Without her presence, the officers returned and ransacked Ms. Mei's apartment. Her computer, printer, and other personal belongings were confiscated.
Over the past 22 years, Ms. Mei, a retired employee of Nanchang City Watch Factory, has been arrested and detained multiple times for upholding her faith. She was held in a brainwashing center for over 50 days and in a detention center three times for a total of over 80 days. Her spine became severely deformed as a result of being tortured in the detention center following her arrest in July 2002. Despite her injuries, she was given one year of forced labor.
Due to the persecution, Ms. Mei was not able to attend her two children’s weddings, in 2001 and 2003, respectively, because she was imprisoned. Her husband, who worried about her and suffered mentally from the persecution, passed away in 2006.
In 2015, Ms. Mei was arrested again and sentenced to three years. At Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison, she was denied family visits and the right to buy daily necessities. The guards injected her with unknown drugs multiple times. Sometimes they tied her up in a chair and forced her to watch propaganda videos slandering Falun Gong around the clock. As soon as she closed her eyes, the inmates would shake her head or pull her ears. She was released in February 2018.
The Xihu District Social Security Office suddenly suspended Ms. Mei’s pension in August 2020 and ordered her to pay back the pension she had received during her three-year prison term. The social security office claimed that according to a new government policy, Falun Gong practitioners weren’t entitled to their pension while serving time.
Ms. Mei’s daughter refuted their demand, saying that she only received a total of 12,000 yuan pension on her mother’s behalf during that three years, and all of the money has already been taken back by the social security office. She questioned how the authorities could still demand more from them.
Related reports:
All articles, graphics, and content published on Minghui.org are copyrighted. Non-commercial reproduction is allowed but requires attribution with the article title and a link to the original article.
Category: Accounts of Persecution
