(Minghui.org) It has been a year since the social security office suspended Ms. Liu Tingxiu’s pension due to a prison term she served a decade ago for her faith in Falun Gong.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Liu, a 77-year-old Shenyang City, Liaoning Province resident living on her own, was arrested on August 10, 2008 and later sentenced to three years by the Dadong District Court.

Due to torture at Shenyang City Women’s Prison, she was unable to walk for over two years. She also suffered dangerously high blood pressure and a heart condition.

In 2020, nine year after she was released, the social security office called her and ordered her to return the funds she received during her three-year prison sentence, citing a new policy that bars all retirees serving time in prison from receiving any retirement benefits.

As Ms. Liu refused to comply, her pension has been suspended since August 2020. The social security office claimed that they would use the withheld funds to pay back the 83,000 yuan she owed them, including the subsidy she had received to account for a cost-of-living adjustment.

In January 2021, the social security office called Ms. Liu and informed her that her pension has been reduced to the level of that in 2001. They offered to pay her 700 yuan each month to cover her living cost and the rest of her reduced pension would be used to pay back the funds.

Ms. Liu refused to sign the paperwork, insisting that it’s persecution against her. The social security office has refused to issue her any fund, not even the 700 yuan they mentioned.