(Minghui.org) Having endured a decade of incarceration and another decade of constant harassment, Mr. Hou Qinghua succumbed to the physical and mental distress in the persecution of his faith in Falun Gong. The Tonghua City, Jilin Province resident passed away on April 4, 2021, at the age of 68.
Mr. Hou used to work as a manager at a bus station. He took up Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline based on “Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance,” in 1996 and was known among his colleagues for being upright and honest.
Although he was demoted three years later when the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong, his manager arranged him to oversee the workplace cafeteria, a “profitable” position where many of his predecessors stole from the company. But the corruption stopped with Mr. Hou.
Sentenced to 12 Years
In 2001, Mr. Hou was followed by the police while giving out informational materials about Falun Gong. After the police failed to arrest him, they arrested his wife instead and gave her one year of forced labor.
Mr. Hou was arrested on April 23, 2002. He was taken to the Changliu Detention Center two days later. His arrest was approved on June 7, and he was indicted on September 13.
The Dongchang District Court tried him on November 11, 2002, and sentenced him to 12 years. The verdict, however, was dated October 22, twenty days before the court hearing.
Mr. Hou was taken to the Jilin Prison on December 12, 2002, and transferred to the Siping Prison a few years later. He was released on August 29, 2011, three years ahead of time.
Nonstop Harassment
In the next decade, Mr. Hou was repeatedly harassed, arrested, and taken to brainwashing centers for his faith.
In 2014 alone, he was arrested three times and held at the Xishan Brainwashing Center twice. His home was ransacked following his third arrest on September 2, 2014, and his Falun Gong books and informational materials were confiscated.
He was arrested two more times, on April 24 and May 4, 2016, respectively. Although he was released due to his health condition following his April arrest, he was held at the Xishan Brainwashing Center for 12 days after the police arrested him again days later.
Two officers harassed him in May 2017 and asked him whether he still practiced Falun Gong.
In recent years, the authorities installed a surveillance camera in the hallway of his apartment building to monitor his daily life.
With declining health from the torture in custody and constant harassment, Mr. Hou passed away on April 4, 2021.
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