Prominent Beijing House Church Leader Receives Second Trial
A prominent Beijing house church leader was given a second trial after being sentenced to three years of imprisonment for the large amount of Christian literature he managed in a storage room.
A prominent Beijing house church leader was given a second trial after being sentenced to three years of imprisonment for the large amount of Christian literature he managed in a storage room.
Next Tuesday, Pastor Cai Zhouhua will receive a second trial at the First People’s Intermediate Court of Beijing, the China Aid Association (CAA) reported Thursday. The trial will be at 9:50 am at Court Room No. 22.
Cai, who was arrested last September, was sentenced on Nov. 8 for “illegal business practice” after police accused him of illegally printing 200,000 copies of the Bible and selling them for money. Cai’s wife, Xiao Yufei, and his brother-in-law, Xiao Gaowen, were also charged with two- and eighteen-month sentence, respectively, for the same accusation. The trial and sentence has drawn international interest.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
According to CAA, Cai had been heavily interrogated, and a reliable governmental source told the China persecution watchdog that Cai was cross-examined almost 90 times by both the State Security Bureau and the Police Security Bureau. A sympathetic officer at Cai’s detention center told the CAA that the interrogations were heavy to the extent that he could see Cai’s legs trembling every time his name was called. Cai was interrogated at midnight every time.
China Aid also reported that he, his wife, and his brother-in-law had also been threatened with electric shock batons. And according to the religious freedom group Christian Solidarity Worldwide Cai’s lawyers have experienced intimidation from government security agents.
“Please pray for strength for him, and for justice in his situation. Pray that international pressure will be effective,” urged CSW.
