Release International

The family of Beijing bookseller Shi Weihan are said to be ‘inconsolable’ after he was given a three-year jail sentence and a $22,000 fine for ‘illegal business practices’.

Shi’s daughters, who are 13 and nine, ‘cried uncontrollably’ when they heard the news, said Shi’s wife Zhang Jing. ‘The children just cannot accept it,’ she said. ‘Their father is their biggest hero. They couldn’t believe [he] was convicted like an ordinary criminal.’

Shi, a house church pastor, was first arrested in November 2007 but later released. He was rearrested in March 2008 (Prayer Alert, April 29, 2008) and has been detained ever since. His sentence, which relates to printing Bibles illegally, appears to run from his first arrest in November 2007. Bibles can only be bought legally in China in government-sanctioned churches.

Shi’s lawyer Zhang Xingshui was not in court to hear the verdict on June 10. Zhang’s licence to work as a lawyer has been suspended by the Government. It is not yet known whether Shi will appeal against his sentence.

Meanwhile, a Christian human rights lawyer named Zheng Enchong was detained and tortured for nine hours by Public Security Bureau officials in Shanghai. He was beaten, stripped and burnt with cigarettes.

Zheng is well known for his work defending poor and vulnerable people, including in cases where officials have confiscated their land. He has now been summoned by officials almost 20 times and has been beaten four times, so that now he has difficulty walking.

(Sources: AsiaNews, China Aid, Open Doors, The Star online)

Act
* Write an encouraging note to Shi Weihan in prison at: Qinghe Detention Centre of the Haidian Sub-Bureau, 2585 Longgang Road, Qinghe Town, Haidian district, Beijing, China. Write to Shi’s wife Zhang Jing at: 3207 Jisheng Villa, West Sanqi, Haidian district, Beijing, China. Please do not mention Release International and do not write anything critical of the Government in your letters.

Pray
* Ask God to uphold Shi Weihan and keep him in good health: he is diabetic. Pray God’s peace and provision over Shi’s family. And thank God for the courageous work of lawyer Zheng Enchong.

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