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| Lawyer Chen Jiangang and Wang Hongwu, the wife of detained pastor Yang Hua. (Photo: China Aid) |
China Aid
Translated by Carolyn Song. Written in English by Brynne Lawrence.
(Guiyang, Guizhou—Dec. 22, 2015) After witnessing officials forcing her husband into an unidentified van, Wang Hongwu, the wife of detained Huoshi Church pastor Yang Hua, received a notice on Sunday, stating that Yang is suspected of “illegally holding state secrets” and has been criminally detained.
Yang, whose real name is Li Guozhi, was initially detained on Dec. 9. He was sentenced to administrative detention for two charges and was given five days of detention for each count.
Wang documented her account of the events surrounding Yang’s detention in the following post on Weibo, a popular Chinese social media service:
“Today, I went to pick up Pastor Yang, but I failed. [I] saw four people pushing Yang Hua into a van without a license plate. Pastor Yang put on a black hood, and his mouth might have been sealed. I called out to him, but he didn’t respond. Those four people did not allow me to approach him. They pushed Pastor Yang into the car and sped away. I asked the detention center, and they only said that the department managing him took him away. They could not tell me which department [had taken him]. Then, I went home … I can only hand everything to the Lord!”
In response to these events, Yang’s family hired lawyer Chen Jiangang as his defense attorney. However, the authorities in charge of the investigation refused to permit Chen to meet with his client yesterday.
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Yang Hua
(Photo: China Aid)
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China Aid also learned that the Nanming District Public Security Bureau raided and searched Yang’s home yesterday but has no other details at this time.
Previously, on Dec. 10 and 15, Yang’s relatives also received notices from the public security bureau, both sentencing him to five days’ administrative detention. The first notice stated that he is suspected of the “crime of obstruction of justice,” and the second accused him of “assembling a crowd to disturb social order.” Yang had just completed his second administrative detention sentence when the third charge of “illegally holding state secrets” was announced.
The administrative detention notices can be read in full below.
China Aid seeks to expose abuses of religious freedom, such as those experienced by Yang Hua.
Southern Guiyang public detention notice no. 121001Li Guozhi’s relatives:
Nanming District Sub-bureau of the Guiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau
Southern Guiyang public detention notice no. 121501China 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