Photo: Minister An Yankui with his family (ChinaAid source)
(Shanxi, China – November 9, 2022) On November 7, Mrs. Yao Congya received her husband An Yankui’s verdict. An was sentenced to one year and a fine of ￥5,000 (~$692) for “illegally crossing the border.” The same day, Mrs. Guo Juan received her husband Zhang Chenghao’s verdict. Zhang was sentenced to one year and a fine of ￥4,000 (~$553) under the same charge. The verdict was issued by Fenyang City People’s Court on November 3.
Photo: Zhang Chenghao with his wife Guo Juan (ChinaAid source)
The following is the verdict (emphasis added):
Fenyang city People’s Procuratorate charged An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao with “illegally crossing the border.” in the indictment paper. The prosecution was submitted to our court on March 29, 2022. But some supporting materials were missing. However, due to the severity of the case and the fact, their behavior did constitute the crime of “illegally crossing the border,” our court decided to uphold the Procuratorate’s prosecution.
According to An Yankui, Zhang Chenghao, and their defense lawyer, they didn’t have any motive to commit the crime and they didn’t violate any exit-entry administration law. They exited the country through the airport exit and they didn’t lie or fabricate any facts to the customs officer. Thus, they did not constitute the crime.
According to the court, the evidence proved that in March 2019, An Yankui was aware that the “2020 Gospel and Culture” Christian conference will be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on January 28, 2020. Then he decided to participate in the conference together with Zhang Chenghao. He also shared the information with Wang Runyun, Zhang Ligong, and other Christians. They planned to go to the conference together and acquired Malaysia eVisa in the name of tourism. On January 27, 2020, they boarded a flight and went to Malaysia to attend the Christian conference. An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao fabricated the reason to exit and enter the country, so they violated the exit-entry administration law. Thus, our court didn’t accept their defense. According to article 322, article 52, item 1 of article 53, item 1 of article 25, article 61, article 45, and article 47 of “the criminal law of people’s republic of China”, and article 5 of “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Laws in the Handling of Criminal Cases of Obstructing Border (Frontier) Control,” we hereby issue the following verdict:
- An Yankui is sentenced to one year and a fine of ￥5,000 for “illegally crossing the border.” His sentence term starts today. The number of days he was detained is deducted from his sentence. Thus, his actual sentence term is from November 22, 2021, to November 21, 2022. The fine must be paid altogether within 10 days of this verdict. The payment will be enforced if not paid during the 10 days. Zhang Chenghao is sentenced to one year and a fine of ￥4,000 for “illegally crossing the border.” His sentence term starts today. The number of days he was detained is deducted from his sentence. Thus, his actual sentence term is from November 22, 2021, to November 21, 2022. The fine must be paid altogether within 10 days of this verdict. The payment will be enforced if not paid during the 10 days.
- The two Christian books sent with the case will be confiscated.
Photos: An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao’s verdict in its entirety (ChinaAid source)
On July 28, 2021, five Christians Zhang Ligong, Wang Runyun, Wang Shiqiang, Zhang Yaowen, and Song Shoushan were criminally detained under the charge of “illegally crossing the border” because they traveled to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in late January 2020 to participate in the “2020 Gospel and Culture” Christian conference sponsored by Indonesian-Chinese evangelist Pastor Tang Chongrong. At that time, they all entered and left the country via standard procedures and through customs with valid visas and passports without any violation of the law. However, a year and a half later, they were criminally detained under the charge of “illegally crossing the border.”
Last November, An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao were taken away by the Fenyang Municipal Bureau of Public Security in Lvliang, Shanxi province, on the same charge. They were detained at Fangshan County Detention and Xiaoyi Detention Center, respectively. Zhang Chenghao and his wife Guo Juan just got married a month before he was arrested.
On the morning of August 5, 2022, Fenyang People’s court held a trial against An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao. In order to prevent An Yankui’s wife from attending the trial, Mrs. Yao Congya was taken away by police before the trial for 15-day detention one day before the trial. An Yankui’s son An Xiongwei and Zhang Chenghao’s wife Guo Juan attended the trial. Police officers were angry to see Guo Juan appear in the court. They tracked her cell phone and took her away after the trial and gave her 15-day administrative detention.
~Yu Bing, ChinaAid Special Reporter