South China Church Senior Leader Abused Again in Prison

China Aid Association
(Midland, Texas (CAA)-June 2, 2006) CAA learned recently that the arrested religious leader of South China Church, Gong Shengliang was beaten again in Hong Shan prison, Wuhan, Hubei Province. The right side of Gong’s face is still swollen. According to his sister, Gong could not move his mouth for three days, and he suffered some hearing loss in his right ear.
April 18, 2006, Pastor Gong’s eldest sister, Gong Shuqin, and his younger sister, Gong Shuzhen, went to Hong Shan prison to visit him and found that the right side of Gong’s face was swollen. Gong told them that March 21, 2006, a prisoner named Lei, who was assigned by the prison officer to watch Gong day and night and report to the officer, had beat him without cause. This beating caused Gong’s facial swelling and pain for three days.
Gong seriously suffered both physically and spiritually. The prisoner who beat Gong did not receive any punishment, on the contrary, he was praised from the prison officer, while Gong was punished by subtracting 2 merit points he had gained last year.
When Gong appealed to the prison leader and asked to have the prisoner who had beaten him transferred to another group, the prison leader refused and only had the prisoner apologize to “settle” the matter.
The request of Gong’s eldest sister, Gong Shuqin, to have a “family dinner” with Gong, was refused by the prison authority and she was given only ten minutes to speak with him. The Christian books they sent to Gong were also forbidden, which actually deprived Gong of his right of freedom of faith in prison.