(Shunde, Guangdong Province – April 8, 2024) Elder Zhu Longfei and four other Christians from Shengjia Church in Shunde, Guangdong Province, were charged with “illegal business operations”. A pre-trial meeting was held on March 29, 2024. During the pre-trial meeting, the five accused Christians, Zhu Longfei, Zhu Longjiang, Deng Yanxiang, Wang Weicai, and Zhu Qiaoling, all stated that their previous statements were induced or threatened to varying degrees.
Guo Xiongwei, the lawyer representing the case, stated that the charge against the defendants is “illegal business operations.” But he believes that a fundamental premise of business operations is that it is profit-oriented. However, the behaviors attributed to the defendants have no profit motive at all. Mr. Guo said, “The charge of ‘illegal business operations’ has become a catch-all offense duing the pre-trial meeting, and our goal as lawyers is to tear apart this catch-all accusation.”
On March 28, the pre-trial meeting was halted by the lawyers after only half an hour. The reason was that the court had not notified the defendants to appear in person, and the court requested a video conference for the trial, which both the lawyers and the defendants disagreed with. In response to the lawyers’ protest, the judge had to temporarily coordinate to bring the five Christians to the courtroom for the pre-trial meeting, which was postponed to March 29. It is reported that on March 28, the five Christians all attended the pre-trial meeting. On that day, opinions were heard in the morning regarding jurisdiction, recusal, and public trial matters, and in the afternoon, debates were held on topics such as excluding illegal evidence and applying for witness testimony.
The five Christians each separately recounted the varying degrees of inducement or threats they faced regarding their previous statements. Zhu Longfei was threatened with the arrest of his wife; Deng Yanxiang was threatened with the auctioning of his property; Wang Weicai and Zhu Longjiang stated they were induced, their true intent being that decisions within the church were not made by one individual, but their statements were recorded as decisions made collectively by all co-workers in the church for printing spiritual books; Zhu Qiaoling wept in court, expressing she was threatened with severe punishment of a long sentence. She stated she had done nothing wrong and lamented not being able to accompany her mother before her passing, expressing particular concern for her 94-year-old father, who is now severely disabled. Subsequently, the lawyers requested the court to provide video and audio recordings of all their statements and the interrogation transcripts by Prosecutor Ouyang Haiming. After the meeting, the presiding judge agreed to allow the family members to observe the five imprisoned Christians from a distance at the courtroom entrance.
Shengjia Church is a house church that has not joined the government sanctioned Three-Self Church. On May 24, 2023, the church was raided by multiple departments including Shunde Public Security Bureau, Religious Affairs Bureau, Education Bureau, and Industry and Commerce Bureau. Preacher Deng Yanxiang, Deacon Zhu Longjiang, Deacon Wang Weicai, and Zhu Qiaoling were arrested by Shunde Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “illegal business operations”. Two gathering venues associated with the church were also raided by over one hundred personnel, and numerous books, tables, and chairs were confiscated on the same day. On August 9, 2023, Elder Zhu Longfei was summoned by Shunde Public Security Bureau and subsequently arrested under the charge of “illegal business operations”.
