(Hohhot, Inner Mongolia) On May 9, 2023, Hohhot Huimin District Court held a trial against Wang Honglan and another nine Christians. At the last moment, the Court decided to hold another pretrial conference to allow both sides to debate, present evidence, and apply for witnesses to show in the Court during the trial.
The defendants
Wang Honglan, Ji Heying, Ji Guolong, Wang Jiale, Liu Wei, Liu Minna, Yang Zhijun, Ban Yanhong, Zhang Wang, and Li Chao were present for the trial. Authorities charged them with “illegal business operations.” More than two years ago police arrested them for selling copies of the Bible.
The court initially rejects requests
In the beginning, the Court read the pretrial conference report and quickly rejected all the requests from the defending attorneys. The defense argued that the prosecution did not give appropriate notice before the pretrial conference, making it invalid. After each side was heard, the presiding judge allowed another meeting before the official trial.
Arrested in 2021
Wang Honglan and the other defendants were arrested on April 14, 2021. Officials determined the total sales from their “illegal business” at 40 million yuan (~$5.8 million). Prosecutors suggested a 10 to 15 years sentence for the four principal offenders: Wang Honglan, Wang Jiale, Liu Minna, and Ban Yanhong. However, Wang and the other co-workers used donated Bibles to give to Christians in need. They had no profit. They ordered their bibles from a government-sanctioned Three-Self Church in Nanjing.
Discrimination
Inner Mongolia Public Security Department is the specified jurisdiction in this case. These Christians were never physically abused during the investigation. Nevertheless, they endured extensive interrogation, insults, and falsehoods from the police.
So-called foreign collusion
The main charge against Wang Honglan was her involvement with overseas Christians giving their Bibles to Chinese Christians. Wang and the others ordered Bibles from the Three-Self Church at 95% of the sales price and sold them at 70%-75% of the sales price. Besides, the Chinese Communist Party canceled the approval requirement for printing and distributing bibles in 2015.
Two conflicting documents
Prosecutors issued two potential versions of the charges. In the first version, the Christians were charged as a criminal organization in collusion with “overseas hostile forces”. Officials suggested a 15-year sentence for 66-year-old Wang Honglan. The defense Christians could not accept such an indictment. Later, the prosecutor’s office quietly took back this version and replaced it with another.
Written notice required
One of the defendants, Zhang Wang, asserted that there were two versions of the prosecution. Zhang miraculously produced both documents at the trial. Prosecutors explained that the first version, the one alluding to “overseas hostile forces,” was void. However, a written decision letter is needed to change the prosecution paper instead of just a verbal notice.
Photo: The defense attorneys at the trial (ChinaAid source)
Rescheduled
The Court originally sent notices to all lower levels of the Department of Justice and requested them to send staff to attend the trial. After the mix-up with the prosecution charges, the judge said he would notify them of another time for the trial. Defense attorneys reported that the case may change jurisdiction based on the situation of the pretrial conference.
~Yu Bing, ChinaAid Special Reporter