(Minghui.org) Three years after Ms. Zhou Jibi passed away while on medical parole from serving a 3.5-year term for practicing Falun Gong, her local social security office ordered her children to pay back the pension funds she had received when she was imprisoned. The office also suspended the pension of her husband in October 2021 and ordered him to pay back 11,000 yuan he had received during his three-year detention, also for practicing Falun Gong.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline with universal values of Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Zhou and her husband Mr. Yin Zhihai, of Chongqing, both took up Falun Gong in 2005, when Ms. Zhou struggled with persistent pain in her ankle after an operation. After reciting the phrases “Falun Dafa is good” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good,” the swelling and pain in her ankle disappeared and she was able to walk again.
For sharing her story with people and raising awareness about the persecution, Ms. Zhou was arrested at home on May 23, 2009. The police seized her and her husband and confiscated personal belongings worth tens of thousands of yuan.
Ms. Zhou was later sentenced to 3 years and Mr. Yin to 3.5 years, both in the Yongchuan Prison in Chongqing.
Ms. Zhou was arrested again on July 21, 2014, for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was sentenced to 3.5 years three months later and transferred to the Chongqing Women’s Prison. She was tortured to critical condition and was released on medical parole. She died on June 9, 2018 at the age of 68.
Her death dealt a heavy blow to her husband. Facing continued harassment from the authorities, Mr. Yin’s health declined and he moved to an assisted living center. He is now facing further financial devastation when the authorities ordered the family to return both Ms. Zhou’s and his pension funds given out during their wrongful terms.
Twice Imprisoned for Her Faith, Chongqing Woman Dies on Medical Parole