(Minghui.org) It has been over seven years since the authorities in Yingkou City, Liaoning Province suspended Ms. Zhu Ruimin’s pension. Her husband, 81, is still living away from home to avoid being arrested for their shared faith in Falun Gong. With his pension also suspended, Ms. Zhu, an 80-year-old retired elementary school teacher, struggles to make ends meet and care for her 101-year-old mother.
Ms. Zhu’s case is one of the countless tragedies faced by Falun Gong practitioners since the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution of this ancient spiritual discipline in 1999. For upholding their faith, these steadfast practitioners face constant arrest, harassment, imprisonment and are now subjected to financial persecution––suspension of their pensions.
Both Ms. Zhu and her husband Mr. Wu Ruiting took up Falun Gong in 1995. Ms. Zhu credits the practice for curing her severe heart condition, kidney problem, and lumbar disc herniation. Her husband thanks Falun Gong for freeing him from the torment of vasculitis and the aftereffect of a stroke.
Because they talked to people about how Falun Gong helped them regain health and how the regime has been persecuting practitioners, the couple was arrested on September 22, 2004, and had their home ransacked. After one month of criminal detention, Ms. Zhu was given one year of forced labor. Due to a health condition, she was denied admission by the Masanjia Forced Labor Camp and released.
The couple was arrested again on October 11, 2014, after being followed by the police while talking to people about Falun Gong on the street. The police ransacked their home and confiscated Falun Gong books, a photo of Falun Gong’s founder, and their computer. The couple was released on medical bail after being rejected admission by the detention center.
The police submitted their cases to the Xishi District Procuratorate on November 21, 2014, which then indicted them on December 9.
On April 8, 2015, the couple appeared in the Xishi District Court. The judge sentenced them each to four years on June 3, 2015. They appealed the verdict with the Yingkou City Intermediate Court, which ruled to uphold their sentences. While Ms. Zhu was taken to the Dabei Prison in Shenyang City on January 12, 2016, Mr. Wu escaped and has been on the run since.
During her four years in prison, Ms. Zhu was forced to make cotton swabs every day, despite her advanced age.
The authorities suspended Ms. Zhu’s pension shortly after her arrest. After she was released on January 11, 2020, she went to the local Education Bureau and demanded the reinstatement of her pension. The person in charge told her that she was fired by the Education Bureau and was no longer entitled to any benefits.
Ms. Zhu returned to the Education Bureau a few more times to seek justice, but to no avail. The last time she went there was in mid-May 2021. One of the agency’s supervisors said there was no way for them to reissue her pension. The only thing they could do is to write a letter, showing that Ms. Zhu has been fired so that she could apply for a low-income subsidy in the community.
Ms. Zhu’s mother was living with her when she was arrested in 2014. The elderly woman was so traumatized by her daughter’s arrest that she fell ill. She has remained bedridden and requires tube feeding since. She is now 101 years old and is sometimes in a delirious state. Ms. Zhu struggles to care for her mother while trying to take care of herself as well.
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