(Minghui.org) The Chikan District Court in Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, sentenced a local woman to five years in May 2024 for seeking to reinstate her suspended pension.
Ms. Su Guiying, 63, was arrested from home on May 11, 2023, and soon issued a formal arrest warrant by the Mazhang District Procuratorate. Her case was then transferred to the Chikan District Procuratorate. She stood trial at the Chikan District Court on November 15, 2023. She is likely still held at the Zhanjiang City Detention Center after her conviction in May 2024.
Pension Suspended in 2020 After Serving 4 Years for Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Su’s pension was suspended in August 2020, days after she completed a four-year prison sentence for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. There was no report of the reason for suspension, but the Mazhang District Social Security Bureau was likely attempting to recoup the retirement benefits issued to her during her imprisonment.
There have been many reports of social security bureaus across China doing similar things to other Falun Gong practitioners citing a policy barring retirees serving time from receiving pension benefits. Those who were still issued a pension in prison often faced the same predicament as Ms. Su with the authorities withholding their future benefits to “pay back” the already issued payments.
Uphill Battle to Seek Pension Reinstatement
As pension benefits are retirees’ lawful assets, Ms. Su visited the Mazhang District Social Security Bureau numerous times to request reinstatement of her. She was always rejected, and one worker even dared her to sue them. She then filed complaints against the Mazhang District Social Security Bureau with its supervising agency, the Zhanjiang City Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, as well as the Mazhang District Justice Bureau and the Mazhang District Government. They gave her a runaround and she had no way but to file a lawsuit against the Mazhang District Social Security Bureau.
The Economic Development Zone Court in Zhanjiang City dismissed the case saying that Ms. Su did not have standing to bring up the lawsuit. She appealed to the Zhanjiang City Intermediate Court, which ordered the Economic Development Zone Court to have a retrial.
While awaiting a retrial, Ms. Su also filed complaints against the Mazhang District Social Security Bureau with various provincial- and central government-level agencies.
Retaliated and Arrested in 2023
The Zhanjiang authorities retaliated against Ms. Su, resulting in her arrest at home on May 11, 2023. The 12 arresting officers included chief Zhang Zhihui from the Zhiman Town Police Station and his three subordinates (Chen Guanjing with a police badge of 213490 and two policewomen), six male auxiliary officers, and two men in plain clothes.
The police raided her home without showing a search warrant. When Ms. Su condemned them for breaking the law, they flashed a piece of paper and asked her to sign it. She tried to take a look to see if it was indeed a search warrant as they claimed, but they snatched it back and no longer demanded her signature. They then accused her of refusing to sign the “search warrant.” They did not issue her a list of confiscated items as required by law.
Ms. Su was taken to the Zhiman Town Police Station and soon transferred to the Zhanjiang City Detention Center.
According to an insider, the police claimed the following incident triggered their arrest of Ms. Su. Su Jianzhong (no relation), a worker at the Zhiman Town Comprehensive Management Office in Ms. Su’s home district of Mazhang, ran into a few seniors on a street corner one day and saw them reading Ms. Su’s appeal letter seeking her pension reinstatement. Su said he confiscated the letter and turned it over to the Mazhang District Political and Legal Affairs Committee (an extra-judicial agency tasked with overseeing the persecution of Falun Gong), which then ordered the Zhiman Town Police Station to arrest Ms. Su.
Ms. Su was not present at the few seniors’ gatherings, nor did she ever share her letter with them. She suspects that they might have been set up by the police.
During the interrogation immediately following her arrest, Ms. Su asked to know what legal basis the police had in detaining her. Officer Chen blurted out, “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement” (a standard pretext used by the communist regime to frame Falun Gong practitioners).
Ms. Su refuted that no law in China criminalizes Falun Gong or labels it as a cult. Additionally, her appeal to seek her pension reinstatement did not cause any harm to anyone or society at large. She refused to sign the interrogation records, and Chen and a few other male officers grabbed her hand and pricked it with a needle to press her fingerprints on the records.
Chen later admitted that he had no way but to follow the higher-up’s order. He said to Ms. Su, “If I don’t persecute you today, I may be the one who gets sentenced to prison. But if I do persecute you today, I may still face consequences down the road [as a scapegoat when perpetrators of Falun Gong are held accountable].” He interrogated Ms. Su again on May 26, 2023, and showed her an arrest warrant without allowing her to read it or sign it.
Ms. Su’s case was later transferred to Chikan District, which has been designated to handle all Falun Gong cases in Zhanjiang City. She was sentenced to five years in May 2024, less than four years after she completed a prior term for practicing Falun Gong.
Brutally Tortured While Serving a Prior 4-Year Term
Ms. Su was known among locals as a shrewd and successful business owner. She, however, suffered from declining health over the years, especially after she had two accidents that resulted in severe brain injuries. Despite treatments, she had lingering complications. Whenever it was windy or rainy, her head felt heavy and her whole body became so weak that she was about to fall at any time. Her chronic stomach and eye problems, as well as cold intolerance, only made things worse.
All her symptoms, however, disappeared after she took up Falun Gong in November 2017. She also became a much more considerate and caring person. Her first-hand experience with Falun Gong motivated her to tell others that the practice was nothing like what was depicted by the communist regime’s hate propaganda. She, however, was arrested on August 31, 2016, after being reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. She was later sentenced to four years and suffered horrific torture at the Guangdong Province Women’s Prison. See the related reports below for details of her torture.
Related Article in Chinese:
Related reports:
Relentless Torture of Falun Gong Practitioner in Guangdong Women's Prison for Upholding Her Faith
Imprisoned Woman Denied Shower and Restroom Use, Suffers from Diabetes
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