Release International

Three prominent church leaders have been sentenced to death on murder charges -- despite claims they are innocent and only confessed under torture.

The Intermediate People's Court of Shuangyashan City in Heilongjiang Province sentenced a total of 17 members of the Three Grades of Servants church on July 5, four months after their case was last heard in court.

The three defendants due to be executed are: 60-year-old church leader Xu Shuangfu; Li Maoxing, who is 55; and Wang Jun, 36. Three other church leaders were given two-year suspended death sentences; the remaining 11 were given three- to 15-year sentences. During the trial earlier this year, the prosecution had alleged that Xu and his co-accused murdered 20 leaders of the Eastern Lightning cult. Xu was also charged with stealing more than £2 million from his church.

Defence lawyers insist there has been a miscarriage of justice because there is insufficient evidence to convict the 17 defendants and torture was used to extract their confessions.  Xu's daughter, Xu Baiyin, has declared her father's innocence publicly. China Aid reports that Xu will now appeal to the High Court.

In Henan province, meanwhile, house church leader Zhang Rongliang has finally been told he will serve a seven-and-a-half-year sentence for crossing a border illegally, falsifying a passport and 'obtaining passports by cheating'. Zhang, a leader of the China for Christ movement, was arrested in 2004 and had heard nothing since a trial hearing in April.

As 7x7 reported on April 25, the Zhongmu City People's Court had referred the case to a higher court because of 'insufficient evidence and ambiguous facts'. It was the Zhongmu  People's Court which convicted him on June 29. Zhang was not informed of the verdict until July 4.

• Pray that international pressure will be brought to bear to secure justice for Xu Shuangfu and his 16 fellow church members.
• Pray for Zhang Rongliang who faces a long jail term and suffers very poor health. Pray too for his family, especially his wife Chen Hongxian.

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