House Church Members in Hami, Xinjiang Await Verdict

China Aid Association
On December 4, 2007, Brother Wei Hongxing came to Daquanwan Village from Henan.  There, he bought a piece of land from a friend of his on which he planted cotton and sorghum.  On December 4, 2007, Brother Wei and other 20-some Christians (some of them come from Lanzhou, Henan and Xin-an area) got together at his residence and held a training session in theology.  Suddenly, Hami Municipal Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs led a group of armed policemen and entered the house of Brother Wei.  They claimed that it was an illegal gathering and ordered them to stop the gathering.  In the meantime, without presenting a search warrant, they seized the cash and cell phones that brothers and sisters were carrying with themselves.  They also pried open the doors of Brother Wei and his neighbors and hauled away the materials and books used in the gathering and Brother Wei’s personal items for daily use (including a color TV, DVD player, refrigerator, washing machine, comforters, cash, etc.  They even hauled away the decoration boards for redecorating the house.  So far, they have not returned these items)  Later, on January 4, 2008, Hami Municipal Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs made a decision of imposing an administrative penalty on Brother Wei of confiscating the illegal income and a fine of RMB 80,000 yuan.  During that time, Brother Wei discussed the matter with the committee on many occasions.  However, the people in Hami Municipal Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs not only refused to let Brother Wei argue his case, but rudely threatened him on many occasions that they would punish him until he collapses in all aspects and drive him out of Xinjiang.
Brother Wei refused to accept as final the decision of administrative penalty from Hami Municipal Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs and submitted his application for administrative reconsideration at Hami Municipal People’s Government of Xinjiang which later made the decision of upholding the original administrative penalty.  On April 2, 2008, Brother Wei submitted his administrative litigation at Hami Municipal People’s Court that decided to open the court on the morning of July 29.  On the morning of July 29, 2008, Hami Municipal People’s Court changed the court time to the afternoon of July 29 on the ground that the client hired by Hami Municipal Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs had to hear some other criminal case.  On the afternoon of July 29, Brother Wei, Sister Wu and other people attended the litigation in court.  Finally, the court decided to pronounce the sentence at another time!  During the trial in the court, the court apparently tilted toward Hami Municipal Committee for Ethnic and Religious Affairs in that they wouldn’t allow the witnesses provided by Brother Wei to appear in court and interrupted Brother Wei and Sister Wu when they presented their  arguments.
However, during the court trial, we also experienced the wonderful and special leadership from the Holy Spirit.  Brother Wei and Sister Wu who are usually fearful and timid bravely argued their cases based on facts, legal provisions, the illegal procedures of Hami Municipal Committee for Religious and Ethnic Affairs and other aspects of the case.  So far, the verdict hasn’t come out.  We ask our brothers and sisters to pray for this case!