(Minghui.org) A 61-year-old retired pharmacist is living a difficult life after her pension was suspended for having served a term for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Xiong Qiuling, of Leiyang City, Hunan Province, was arrested at home on October 28, 2012 and later sentenced to three years in prison. After she was released on October 28, 2015, she relied on a meager pension to get by, which she started to take in 2010, when she reached the retirement age of 50 in China.
The Leiyang City Social Security Bureau (SSB) suspended her pension in May 2018, with the excuse that Falun Gong practitioners serving time for their faith are not entitled to any retirement benefits during their terms. They demanded that Ms. Xiong return the money she received during her three-year term, or they would suspend her pension until the full amount was paid back.
Ms. Xiong appealed with the SSB and the Leiyang City Petition Office. The SSB started to make monthly payments of 800 yuan to her in August 2018, after suspending her partial pension. The 800 yuan monthly payment was also stopped in September 2020.
Before Ms. Xiong was sentenced, her family spent tens of thousands of yuan in order to rescue her. She also spent tens of thousands of yuan on medical treatment, when her health declined due to the abuses in prison. When she was released from prison in 2015, her family was already destitute. With the continued financial persecution, she is now facing an even more dire situation.
Perpetrators’ contact information:
Xie Shuhong (谢淑洪), head of Leiyang City Social Security Bureau: +86-13974772209Zheng Deshi (郑德实), deputy head of Leiyang City Social Security Bureau: +86-13575260629
Related reports:
Ms. Xiong Qiuling from Leiyang City Appeals Three Year Prison Sentence
Chinese Communist Regime's Judges Blatantly Violate the Law in the Persecution of Falun Gong
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