(Minghui.org) Ms. Miao Huixia, a practitioner from Huan County in Gansu Province, was tried in Qingcheng Court in Qingyang City on February 25, 2014. Her lawyer presented a strong defense of her innocence.
Ms. Miao was arrested at about noon on September 22, 2013, in Lujiawan Town, Huan County, for distributing information about Falun Gong and the persecution. The Huan County Procuratorate authorized her arrest after the fact, on October 25, 2013. She is now being held in Qingcheng Detention Center.
Her husband, Mr. Kou Ping, is in Tianshui Prison in Gansu Province. Their son is a high school student and dependent on relatives to get by.
Ms. Miao and Mr. Kou have been repeatedly arrested, sentenced, sent to forced labor camps, and imprisoned since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999.
Yang Heping, director of the Huan County Police Department, and about a dozen officers including Chang Yuhai, Chen Yongzhong, Zhao Yongping, and Fan Youtian, broke into the couple's home and arrested them on the evening of February 17, 2004. The officers confiscated their property, including a computer, a printer, a scanner, and Dafa books. The value of the items was approximately 15,000 yuan.
Mr. Kou's mother, who was over 70 at the time, was so frightened that she became bedridden and soon passed away. Their 6-year-old son was severely traumatized and had no one to care for him.
Ms. Miao was detained in a forced labor camp for a year and 3 months.
Mr. Kou was sentenced to three years in prison by the Huan County Court on December 18, 2004.
Ms. Miao was arrested as she arrived at work in Huancheng Town by Zhang Jiannan, instructor of the Huan County Domestic Security Division and other officers at about 2:00 p.m. on August 25, 2011. They confiscated her house key and then ransacked her home. They took her desktop computer, which she used for her job, and a notebook computer. The value of the property was about 17,000 yuan. The officers threatened their 13-year-old son who was at home.
Ms. Miao was taken to the Qingcheng Detention Center in Qingyang City, Gansu Province. They planned to arrest her husband as well but he had left home to avoid being taken.
Mr. Kou was arrested on November 15, 2011, in Tianshui City, Gansu Province. Huan County Court sentenced Mr. Kou to four years in prison and Ms. Miao to 3 years, with 5 years' probation, in June 2012.
Ms. Miao, 41, was formerly a government employee in Huancheng Town, Huan County. She suffered from chronic ailments, including dermatosis, glaucoma, and pleurisy that disappeared after she started practicing Falun Gong. She followed the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and was regarded as a hard worker with a good reputation among her colleagues and acquaintances.
A farmer once spoke about Ms. Miao with great admiration, “In our community there is one government employee who really tries to help us.”
Mr. Kou Ping was previously a technician at the Huan County Mobile Co. but was fired from his job because he practices Falun Gong.
Related article: Ms. Miao Huixia Held for Three Months, Her Husband Forced to Leave Home