April 9, 2010
HENAN- Yucheng County Public Security Bureau are arrested several local “house church” Christians without legal documentation, releasing them only after a fine was paid. The illegal police activity with demands to pay fines raise questions regarding not just religious persecution, but also corruption and greed inside the Yucheng County Security Bureau.
The scandal began on March 9 when the Yucheng County Public Security Bureau took local Christians to the police station. The following day, March 10, family members of the Christians went to the station to sort out the trouble.
“These people belong to a cult,” one of the police officers said to the family members when they arrived at the station. Fines were then demanded for the release of the illegally arrested men and women.
One of the arrested Christian women was able to leave after her family paid the fine of several thousand yuan. However, not everyone was able to gather the yuan needed to pay the fine. Gao Jianli, Hua Yulan, Liu Yunhua and his wife Zheng Yumei were sent to a detention center as a consequence.
Circumstances for the detained believes went from bad to worse. The families of the captured Christians did to receive notices of their detentions. When the family members went to the station to gather information on their loved ones whereabouts, the police officer in charge of the case wouldn’t give them any kind of legal documents or inform them of procedure.
When the family members finally arrived at the detention center, the County Domestic Security Protection Squad demanded that the family bring bedding for the jailed Christians to sleep on. Upon the arrival of the bedding, family members were further demanded to provide a “living expense” of 500 yuan for each prisoner just to see their loved ones. Demands were met for three of the four detainees. “Living expenses” were not met for one, and he was not allowed to see his family.
Corruption involving police exploitation of Christians continued two days later. On March 12, the Domestic Security Protection Squad and officers from the local police station went to Wang Zhuang Elementary School, were some of the detained believers had children enrolled. The wife of the principal (who is a believer) was arrested. Her husband paid the demanded fine of three thousand yuan, and his wife was released without any legal documentation.
Four days later, on March 16, Meng Qingmin was arrested by the Domestic Security Protection Squad on his way to visit his friends the detention center. After Qingmin’s arrest, his wife and several co-workers fled Yucheng County and petitioned higher authorities outside of town to set the detained Christians free. In response of the petitions, the local Public Security Bureau threatened Qingmin’s family stating “as long as you come back, turn yourselves in and pay four thousand yuan, nothing more would happen to you.” The police added to the threat, stating that if Qingmin’s family does not turn themselves in, they would be sentenced to three to five years of imprisonment.
On March 25, after 15 days in detention, Gao Jianli and the other jailed believers were presented with a question by the police.
“Do you still believe in Jesus?”
“We have no other treasures in life, but Jesus is our Lord and our treasure. We certainly believe in Him,” the detained believers replied.
The response by the police officer was harsh and unjust. “Since you still want to believe in Him, then you will be sentenced to one year of reeducation through labor and I would like to see whether you still believe in Him!”
It is believed that two sisters of Hua Yulan and Zheng Yumei were detained at Zhengzhou Reeducation through Labor Center while Gao Jianli and Liu Yunhua were detained at Xuchang Reeducation through Labor Center.
ChinaAid renounces the unjust actions of the Yucheng County Public Security Bureau and the local police. ChinaAid urges Chinese authorities to crack down on corrupt police action demanding fines for the release and “silence” of Henan Christians. We call on believers around the world to pray for the detained Christians and their families.
Call the families of the unjustly detained believers and encourage them in their struggle.
Hua Yulan’s third daughter:
Cell: + 86-509-054-5698
Gao Jianli
Cell: + 86-593-908-2177
Gao’s wife:
Tel: + 86-582-477-6586
Gao’s brother-in-law (Li Shesheng):
Cell: + 86-350-769-0788
Liu Yunhua’s son (Liu Sen)
Cell: + 86-359-836-8343
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
