(Minghui.org) A car mechanic was imprisoned between 2014 and 2017 after being arrested for handing out DVDs about Falun Dafa, a meditation practice that has been persecuted in China for the past 24 years.

While serving time at Dalian Prison, Mr. Xiao Heyun, a 76-year-old Yingkou City, Liaoning Province resident, was tortured and forced to do unpaid labor because he refused to renounce his faith. His mother died three months before his term ended, yet the prison authorities denied his request to see her for the last time.

Three years after Mr. Xiao was released, the local social security bureau suspended his pension to claw back the 80,000 yuan in pension benefits issued to him during his three-year prison term. They claimed that he wasn’t entitled to any retirement benefits while serving time. The financial persecution left him and his ailing wife in a dire situation.

A Kindhearted Car Mechanic

Before Mr. Xiao learned Falun Dafa, he suffered chronic illnesses including colitis, low back pain, rhinitis, neurosis, and severe hemorrhoids. The doctors told him that he could only alleviate the symptoms and not cure them.

In less than six months after he took up Falun Dafa, all of his illnesses disappeared. He felt energetic and grounded as he strove to live by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The auto repair shop he worked at did not have a car electrician, and he volunteered to study the relevant subjects. He then shouldered all the electrical work, and worked as quickly as a young man.

On one occasion the septic tank for his apartment building was clogged. He manually cleaned it to make things convenient for the residents.

After he was released from prison on June 15, 2017, Mr. Xiao continued to help out his community even though he was having financial difficulties and his wife required much medical attention. The village had many potholes on its rural streets, which caused much inconvenience for the local traffic. He brought in dozens of carts of gravel soil with his tricycle, and paved the roads in 2018. The villagers were grateful for his efforts.

Arrest and Torture in Detention Center

Mr. Xiao was arrested on June 15, 2014 when he was handing out Falun Dafa DVDs. The police raided his home and held him in the Yingkou City Detention Center. He refused to wear the inmates’ uniform because he had broken no law by upholding his faith.

The guards put him on a large wooden bed and cuffed his wrists and ankles to metal rings that were fixed to the four corners. He was left in a spread-eagle position for six days. The physical strain and discomfort was hard to bear as he was 66 years old at the time.

Torture reenactment: Immobilized on a bed with four limbs stretched out

When a supervisor patrols the detention center, the detainees must put down everything they are doing and sit still on their small stools to greet the supervisor. Instead of greeting him, Mr. Xiao shouted “Falun Dafa is good,” “The world needs Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance.” In retaliation, the guards stuffed a mop in his mouth. They used so much force that one of his teeth was knocked out.

Three Years of Intensive Labor in Dalian Prison

Mr. Xiao was later sentenced to a three-year prison term by the Laobian District Court, and he was transferred to Dalian Prison. The guards made the inmates make and pack popsicle sticks. The guards were especially hard on the practitioners.

Illustration: Forced labor inside China’s prisons

A head guard talked to Mr. Xiao and ordered him to renounce his faith, but he refused. The guard then had former Falun Dafa practitioners who had renounced their faith after the persecution started in 1999, talk to Mr. Xiao. They frequently twisted the teachings of Falun Dafa and tried to talk him out of the practice. At first he reasoned with them, but to no avail. He chose to ignore them whenever they approached him.

His elderly mother missed him dearly when he was in prison. Three months before he was scheduled to be released, his family asked the prison authorities to release him on bail so that he could see his mother. The request was denied, and his then 99-year-old mother passed away before he was released, on June 15, 2017.

Retirement Account Frozen and Pension Suspended

The Yingkou City Social Security Bureau suspended Mr. Xiao’s pension in November 2016 while he was still in prison, and later resumed it. The bureau suspended his pension again in March 2020, claiming to use the suspended pension to pay back the 80,000 yuan pension he received during his three-year prison term.

Mr. Xiao went to the social security bureau to demand reinstatement of his pension. He was given only 9,600 yuan per year to cover his living expenses while his pension was suspended.