China: Five House-Church Leaders Leave Labor Camps

September 12, 2011

(MNN) ― After two years of grueling labor, five house-church leaders were released last week from labor camps in China, reports Voice of the Martyrs.

Since September 13, 2009, Fao Fuqin, Zhao Guoai, Yang Caizhen, Yang Hongzhen and Li Shuangpin have experienced physical and psychological torment in a Chinese labor camp. All five men are leaders in the 50,000 member Linfen church, a house church movement in China.

The men were arrested in the aftermath of an attack on Linfen, when over 400 local police, government officials, and hired men attacked one of the church branches. In the attack, they demolished a church building and clashed with several hundred members of the church, sending 30 to the hospital.

Five church leaders were detained and sentenced to prison terms of up to seven years during a one-day show trial, and five were sentenced to two years of re-education through labor.

Police still occupy the site where the main Linfen church building stands. The church's members are scattered, but they continue to meet and worship in private homes. the rest