China Aid Association
(Khotan, Xinjiang—March 9, 2012) The leader of a house church in far west China that was raided by authorities on Sunday was lured by police to the police station, taken into custody and given a 15-day administrative detention sentence on Friday, ChinaAid has learned.
Zhong Shuguang, the leader of a house church in the city of Khotan, in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, received a call from police officer Yang Meng at about 4 p.m. Friday notifying him that the police were returning to him the laptop and projector that they had confiscated on Sunday when they raided his church’s Sunday worship service. Following Yang’s instructions, Zhong went to pick up the items at the police station, only to be immediately arrested and told that he was being put under administrative detention for 15 days for “organizing an illegal religious meeting.” He was transferred to the Khotan municipal detention center.
When ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu heard the news, he sent the following text message to police officer Yang, whose phone number is +86-13779191617:
“Dear Police Officer Yang Meng, I am Pastor Fu Xiqiu, president of China Aid Association in the United States. I was shocked to learn that brother Zhong Shuguang, leader of the Khotan house church, has been administratively detained for 15 days for holding a worship service. We overseas Chinese in the United States and Christians worldwide are all deeply disturbed by this news and make a special appeal to you. He is the leader of an orthodox Christian church, which is well-known the world over. We hope that you will release him for the sake of maintaining overall social stability and freedom of religion.”
ChinaAid expresses its deep regret over this event and will continue to closely monitor further developments in this case.
See ChinaAid’s earlier report on this case: https://chinaaid.org/2012/03/han-chinese-house-church-in-xinjiangs.html
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.chinaaid.org
