Sichuan Woman Dies After Being Jailed for Her Faith and Having Pension Suspended

(Minghui.org)

Name: Zhang JianyingChinese Name: 张建英Gender: FemaleAge: 63City: LeshanProvince: SichuanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: July 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: June 17, 2016Most Recent Place of Detention: Sichuan Province Women’s Prison

Two years after Ms. Zhang Jianying finished serving 2.5 years for her faith in Falun Gong, the authorities demanded that she return the over 100,000 yuan of pension benefits issued to her during her prison term. She couldn’t afford to pay back the sum, and saw her pension suspended.

Ms. Zhang had already been struggling with poor health due to the torture in prison, and the new round of financial persecution further aggravated her condition. The Leshan City, Sichuan Province resident passed away in late July 2022. She was 63.

Ms. Zhang took up Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline, in March 1999. She credited the practice for curing many of her ailments, including asthma, lung condition, gastritis and rheumatism. With good health, she had better performance at work and took on many household chores at home.

Only four months into her practice, the Chinese communist regime gave orders to eradicate Falun Gong from China due to its unprecedented popularity. Like countless other practitioners, Ms. Zhang was subjected to relentless persecution for upholding her faith.

In October 2005, Ms. Zhang was arrested and detained for seven days. She was arrested again on October 14, 2006, tied up in a chair and interrogated. The police later took her to the Shizhushan Detention Center, where she was held for seven days.

Ms. Zhang was arrested once more on May 3, 2013. The 610 Office agents and police took her to a brainwashing center and tried to force her to renounce Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhang’s last arrest was on June 17, 2016, for making phone calls to the public to raise awareness about the persecution. Her arrest was approved on July 21, 2016. She was sentenced to 2.5 years at Sichuan Province Women’s Prison in May 2018 by the Zhong District Court. She was very weak when she was released in early 2019.

The local social security bureau suspended Ms. Zhang’s pension in 2021. She went to her workplace to inquire about the situation and was told that a new policy prohibits retirees from receiving retirement benefits while serving time. Although she argued that no Chinese labor law has such a stipulation, the authorities insisted that she either return the more than 100,000 yuan she had received during her prison term, or they would suspend her pension to pay back the funds. As Ms. Zhang couldn’t afford to pay, her pension was suspended.

Ms. Zhang made a final effort to appeal for her pension by writing letters to her workplace and the social security bureau in May 2022, but to no avail. She succumbed to the tremendous mental and physical distress and passed away two months later.