HONG KONG, Jun 20, 01 (CWNews.com) - A group of twelve Christians arrested by Communist Chinese police last month have been sentenced to «reeducation through labor» camps for up to three years, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said on Wednesday.
The twelve were among 35 people arrested on May 26 during an illegal Protestant house-church service, although most were released after receiving stiff fines, according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy. The remainder refused to pay the fine and later sentenced for «illegal religious activities.»
The Communist Chinese government requires Christians to worship only in state-controlled associations including the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, which eschews any connections to the Vatican or the Pope. Many Catholics worship in churches that, while openly loyal to the government association, secretly pledge allegiance to the Pope.
In an unrelated event, Christians in the Lanzhou in western China planned a «large-scale» protest after the state-owned Lanzhou Oil Co. and Lanzhou Qilihe Real Estate Co. occupied land belonging to the Church of Lanzhou without providing any compensation. The church sued the two businesses and won a settlement, but has yet to receive any of the promised payment, the statement said. A protest planned for May 27 aimed at winning provincial government attention for the case was blocked by the Provincial Religious Bureau, it said.
Catholic World News Service - Daily News Briefs
20. juni 2001