78-year-old Man’s Pension Suspended After Serving Three Years for His Faith

(Minghui.org) When Mr. Zhou Xikun returned home in October 2019 after serving three years in prison for practicing Falun Gong, he was devastated to learn that his pension had been suspended for ten months.

After three years of torture and intensive forced labor in prison, the 78-year-old man is having frequent chest pain. He is very weak and has to stop and lean against a wall, a table or a window sill, while walking. The suspension of his pension, which is still continuing today, has brought even more difficulty and distress to his daily life.

Mr. Zhou, who retired from Wuhan University in 2003, was arrested by the police and security personnel of the university at his home in Wuhan, Hubei Province on the evening of December 20, 2016. His home was also ransacked.

For over twenty days, the police kept his family in the dark as to his whereabouts. Not until the Hongshan Detention Center ordered them to deliver medicine to him after he experienced symptoms of a medical condition, did his family learn where he was being detained. At the same time, security personnel from Wuhan University also frequently harassed his family. 

The Hongshan District Procuratorate approved Mr. Zhou’s arrest on January 22, 2017. The police submitted his case on March 25, and the prosecutor returned the case to the Zhuodaoquan Police Station one month later, stating that they weren’t planning to indict Mr. Zhou. Police officer He Aimin took Mr. Zhou back home on April 27 and released him on bail. 

On May 24, Mr. Zhou was suddenly informed by the Hongshan District Court that he was scheduled to appear in court. His family went to the court to inquire about his case. They learned that officers He and Ma submitted Mr. Zhou’s case to the Hongshan District Procuratorate again. Prosecutors Chen Ting and Liu Wenwen indicted him on May 15 and moved his case to the Hongshan District Court.

Mr. Zhou was tried on September 13 and sentenced to three years with a 5,000-yuan fine by judge Xu Zhongquan on October 31, 2017. He appealed the verdict, but the higher court upheld the original sentencing. 

After that, his family was once again kept in the dark about his whereabouts. They only learned about his sentencing when the Fanjiatai Prison called them on March 12, 2018, asking them to deliver clothes to him. 

In November 2018, Wang Xinhua and Liao Xiaoming, director and deputy director, respectively, of the Computing Center, Department of Informatics at Wuhan University, went to Mr. Zhou’s home and informed his family of their decision to suspend his pension. They also threatened to completely wipe out his years of service. Mr. Zhou’s pension has been suspended since December 2018.

Perpetrators’ information:
Han Jin (韩进), Secretary of the Communist Party Committee of Wuhan UniversityDou Xiankang (窦贤康), Chancellor, Wuhan UniversityZhao Xuemei (赵雪梅), Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuhan University, Director of the Organization Department of the Party CommitteeLi Ziyuan (李资远), member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee of Wuhan University, Vice Chancellor, Minister of Finance Department, Wuhan UniversityWan Qingxiang (万清祥), member of the Party Standing Committee, Deputy Secretary of the Disciplinary CommitteeLi Jiancheng (李建成), member of the Standing Committee of Wuhan University, Vice President, Dean of the School of Surveying and Mapping, Wuhan UniversityLin Wenshu (林文书), Secretary of the Party Committee of Hongshan DistrictYan Zhongxing (严中兴), Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Head of Hongshan District

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Wuhan University Employee Detained for His Faith