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DUBROOM
ARTICLE SECTION |
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| Three
Jailed In China For Printing Bibles |
| Three
Christians in China have been sentenced to
imprisonment for printing Bibles and other
Christian writings without government
authorisation.
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BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese court on Tuesday
sentenced a Protestant minister, his wife and her
brother to prison terms of up to three years for
illegally printing Bibles and other Christian
publications, one of their lawyers said.
The conviction of house church minister Cai
Zhuohua, 34, and his family by the Beijing
People's Intermediate Court came days before U.S.
President George W. Bush arrives for a state
visit.
In atheist China, printing of Bibles and other
religious publications need special approval from
the State Bureau of Religious Affairs. Bibles
cannot be openly bought at bookshops in a country
long criticized overseas for intolerance of
religion.
Cai, arrested in September last year, was
sentenced to three years in prison on charges of
"illegal business practices," attorney
Zhang Xingshui said by telephone.
His 33-year-old wife, Xiao Yunfei, was given a
two-year prison sentence and her brother, Xiao
Gaowen, 37, an 18-month term, the lawyer said.
Both were convicted on similar charges.
They were expected to appeal and have 10 days to
do so.
Their families and the court could not immediately
be reached for comment.
A fourth defendant, Hu Jinyun, Xiao Gaowen's wife,
was exempted from criminal punishment on charges
of "secretly storing illegal goods"
because she made contributions by informing
against her sister-in-law, the lawyer quoted the
verdict as saying.
Rights activists say that while religious freedom
is enshrined in China's constitution and the
faithful are allowed to worship at official
churches, the government is increasingly using
legal excuses to crack down on house churches and
wayward religious groups.
The prosecutor, in the bill of indictment, accused
the defendants of illegally printing 200,000
copies of the Bible which were found in Cai's
warehouse but the verdict did not mention a
figure.
In July, Hong Kong's Beijing-funded Ta Kung Pao
newspaper quoted Ye Xiaowen, director of the State
Bureau of Religious Affairs, as saying Cai
illegally printed 40 million copies of the Bible
and other Christian publications.
Ye accused Cai of illegally selling over two
million copies of the Bible instead of giving them
away for free, the newspaper said, adding that Ye
insisted the case had nothing to do with religious
persecution.
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
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