ICC NOTE: In May of 2015 the Daguan House Church in Guizhou province China was raided by authorities taking 30 members into custody. 18 of those members were released but authorities returned June 7th and detained more members. Recently eight of those members were detained for “meeting illegally, organizing cult activities and violating Article 300 of the Criminal Code.” Local courts ruled the cases to be investigated further and those detained await prosecution. Despite the speedy verdicts on their cases, they have been denied the right to legal counsel. When other church leaders attempted to visit the prisoners with human rights lawyers, they were denied visitation rights and followed by threatening men with weapons. China continues to crackdown on its Christian population as it attempts to eliminate a threat to the Communist Party, the ruling apparatus.
2/1/2016 Guizhou, China (China Aid) – A public security bureau (PSB) in China’s southern Guizhou province recently transferred the cases of five Christians to the local Procuratorate for prosecution after receiving orders in late November to investigate the incident further.
Eight members of Daguan House Church were criminally detained earlier last year for “meeting illegally, organizing cult activities and violating Article 300 of the Criminal Code.” Eventually, three of them were released on bail, and, on Sept.1, authorities formalized the arrests of the five others—Dai Xiaoqiang, Xu Guoqing, Kang Chengju, Tang Huanggui and Huang Huaxin—on the charge of “using a cult organization to undermine law enforcement.”
The church unsuccessfully appealed to the PSB to repeal the punishment.
After the PSB sent the cases to the Procuratorate, the authorities ruled that the evidence was insufficient and ordered that the bureau investigate the situation further. China Aid learned on Jan. 25 that the cases have been re-submitted, and the Christians now await prosecution.
Despite the imminent release of their verdicts, the government has not permitted the defendants to hire lawyers. When Huoshi Church pastor Yang Hua, who followed this case closely, went to the PSB on May 29 with Li Guisheng, a lawyer, and requested to meet with the incarcerated, the officials rejected their request, and men wielding knives followed Yang and Li into town. In another incident, Yang led renowned human rights lawyer Zhang Kai and eight other people to the Qianxi County Public Security Bureau and the detention center on June 18, but about 100 unidentified men confronted them and smashed their vehicles.
