Pension Already Suspended for Eight Years, 71-year-old Woman Tried Again for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A 71-year-old woman in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province, was tried on August 2, 2022, for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Han Lihua was arrested on November 22, 2020, by Feng Haibo of the Domestic Security Office and over 20 other police officers. They confiscated her Falun Gong books and materials, computer, and two printers. She was released on bail the same day.

The Ranghulu District Court scheduled a hearing for 9 a.m. on August 2 but postponed it to 10:40 a.m., when prosecutor Feng Guang finally showed up after attending another meeting.

Judge Leng Zhiqiang asked Ms. Han if she acknowledged the Falun Gong materials confiscated from her as evidence. She argued that having the materials in itself didn’t violate any law, that she wasn’t present when the police ransacked her home, and that they never verified with her the confiscated items or provided a confiscation list.

Ms. Han’s lawyer entered a not guilty plea on her behalf and denied the allegations against her, namely, “undermining law enforcement,” the standard pretext used to criminalize Falun Gong practitioners. He argued that the prosecutor failed to prove Ms. Han’s alleged criminal intent or show how she undermined any law or what damage she caused to any individual or the country. He urged the judge to acquit her.

The judge asked Ms. Han if she could afford to pay the fine. She said she could not because her pension had been suspended for eight years.

Past Persecution

Since the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Han has been repeatedly targeted for her faith. She was held in a brainwashing center for six months, given three years of forced labor, and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Ms. Han was arrested on September 25, 2001, after being reported by her supervisors at work for talking to them about Falun Gong. After four months of detention, she was extremely weak and went into shock several times. Only then did the police release her.

Ms. Han was arrested again at home on April 22, 2003, and held at a brainwashing center for six months. When she refused to write statements to renounce Falun Gong, the guards put her in solitary confinement, forced her to squat, and deprived her of sleep. They beat her if she moved when she was squatting.

Ms. Han was later given three years of forced labor. But because she failed the physical exam, she was denied admission by the Harbin Drug Rehab Center.

Ms. Han’s next arrest was on May 4, 2008. She was sentenced to seven years by the Ranghulu District Court in late October 2008 and admitted to the Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison on January 14, 2009.

After she was released on October 4, 2014, the Daqing Social Security Bureau suspended her pension and ordered her to return the 180,000 yuan she had received during her prison term. They claimed that, according to a policy issued by the General Office of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in 2001, no retirees are to receive any retirement benefits while they are incarcerated.

Ms. Han argued that both the labor camp term and the prison term were acts of persecution and that no labor law requires that. There was no way she could afford to make a lump sum payment of 180,000 yuan. As a result, the Daqing Social Security Bureau has suspended her pension ever since.

Perpetrators’ contact information:

Leng Zhiqiang (冷志强), judge, Ranghulu District Court: [phone]Feng Guang (封光), prosecutor, Ranghulu District Procuratorate: [phone], [phone], [phone]