Associated Press Wednesday, 27 July 2011
BEIJING (AP) — A U.S.-based monitoring group says a top leader in China’s underground Protestant church movement has been sentenced to two years in a labor camp for organizing illegal religious gatherings.
The group China Aid says pastor Shi Enhao was sentenced over the weekend after being detained on June 21 in the eastern city of Suqian. Labor camp sentences are handed out without trial on the recommendation of police and can be extended beyond the usual two-year term.
Texas-based China Aid said Tuesday the sentence was part of an ongoing crackdown against underground churches that are growing larger and increasingly bold.
Authorities usually refuse to comment on such matters, and police and religious affairs officials in Suqian said they had no knowledge of Shi’s case.
http://religionandpolicy.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7004&Itemid=537
China 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
