ICC NOTE: According to reports from China Aid, the pastor of the persecuted Huoshi Church in Guiyang has shown signs of inhumane treatment and even torture while incarcerated. Yang Hua has been detained since December of 2015 and later charged in January of 2016 on trumped up charges typically used in cases of Christian pastors and other church members. The church itself continues to face persecution as their bank accounts were frozen in July of 2015 and forced to pay a daily fine per square foot of their facility as punishment. Since then a group from the church who met in an apartment has been evicted by the landlord, forcing them to join other groups or disband all together.
5/18/2016 Guiyang, China (China Aid) – The lawyers for an incarcerated house church pastor in Guiyang, the largest city in China’s inland Guizhou province, expressed their belief that their client was tortured in prison. This revelation comes on the heels of the announcement that the pastor’s case has been transferred to the court for trial and that a small group from pastor’s church was evicted.
Yang Hua, the pastor of the recently persecuted Huoshi Church, was first administratively detained on Dec. 9, 2015, then criminally detained for “illegally holding state secrets,” and arrested for “divulging state secrets” on Jan. 22.
One of Yang’s lawyers, Chen Jiangang, told China Aid that when he and his co-counsel, Zhao Yonglin, visited the pastor on April 22, they saw the prison official threaten Yang. Chen said they suspect that Yang has been subjected to inhumane treatment during his detention. The lawyers are currently attempting to determine to what extent Yang has been mistreated.
“We’ve gotten the files. … He has been persecuted and made notes,” Chen said.
Yang’s wife, Wang Hongwu, told China Aid that Yang’s lawyers also visited the pastor at the detention center on May 11. Wang said that shortly after, it was announced that her husband’s case had been transferred to the Nanming District Court in Guiyang after three months of review and that no trial date had been announced.
Additionally, China Aid learned that a small group from Huoshi Church was forced to relocate last week after the landlord renting apartment space to them evicted the group.
“Congregations are still held as small group gatherings. At least seven to eight people would attend, although not a large number of attendees,” Wang said after one such group was forced to move. “Many people joined different groups at different locations. Even so, the Jinyang group had to change locations several times because the police pressured the landlords, forcing them to revoke the lease.”
