(Hefei, Anhui Province – June 3, 2024) The case of Pastor Wan Changchun, Elder Xue Shaoqiang, co-worker Cao Binting, and Wan Chunqin of the Cornerstone Reformed Church in Bengbu, who were charged with fraud, was originally scheduled to officially open trial at 9:00 a.m. on May 16, 2024. The family members of the four defendants had long been looking forward to seeing their loved ones in court and arrived early outside the courthouse. However, on the day of the trial, the court did not allow the lawyers to bring computers into the courtroom, nor did it allow the family members of the four defendants and other Christians from the church to enter the courtroom. Only those who had obtained observer certificates were allowed to enter.
The court cited an internal regulation of the Supreme Court, informing the lawyers that this case is a major sensitive case and that no electronic devices can be brought in, but electronic materials can be copied to the court’s computers. The lawyers stated that each person’s computer and software are different, and that the lawyers’ computers contain materials from other cases, which are state secrets according to law. Since it is a major sensitive case, why not form a seven-person collegial panel according to law? One lawyer stated that the Supreme Court’s regulation is self-empowerment and that it is unreasonable for modern society not to allow lawyers to bring their own computers into the court.
On the morning of the trial day, when the lawyers arrived at the courthouse entrance, they discovered that the family members of the defendants in this case were restricted by the court from entering the courtroom to observe the trial because they had been witnesses. The court only allowed those with observer certificates to enter, and the brothers and sisters of the church were basically not allowed to enter. Several family members who had been questioned were also not allowed to observe the trial. The lawyers stated that even witnesses who have been questioned can observe the trial, let alone close relatives who have the right to be exempt from testifying in court. According to law, the right of close relatives to observe the trial should be given priority. At the pre-trial meeting held on May 13, 2024, the family members of the four defendants were unfortunately unable to enter the courtroom to see their loved ones.
In the end, neither the lawyers nor the family members were able to enter the courtroom. The trial could not proceed. The family members and lawyers had no choice but to petition and request to see the court president, but to no avail. They then called the 12345 complaint hotline and were told that complaints should be directed to a higher-level court. Then they went to the Bengbu City Intermediate People’s Court, the Bengbu City Procuratorate, the Yuhui District Political and Legal Affairs Committee to report the situation. The time for the next official trial has not been set.
On April 11, 2023, Pastor Wan Changchun was arrested by the Bengbu police while serving in Lijiang, Yunnan Province, on suspicion of “illegal business operations”. Elder Xue Shaoqiang, Wan Changchun’s sister Wan Chunqin, co-worker Cao Binting and another male Christian were also criminally detained one after another on the same charge. Other elders, deacons and co-workers of the church were successively summoned, the church’s finances were thoroughly searched, and its bank accounts were frozen. On May 18, 2023, the Yuhui District Sub-bureau changed the charge and arrested Pastor Wan Changchun for “fraud”, and also charged four other co-workers including Elder Xue Shaoqiang and Pastor Wan Changchun’s wife You Xiulin with “fraud” to the Yuhui District People’s Procuratorate. The church has publicly stated multiple times: the church’s four co-workers did not “defraud” anyone of money, and the brothers and sisters all know that they have not been deceived. All offerings are willingly given, and the church’s expenditures are all open and transparent. During their detention, Elder Xue Shaoqiang’s mother passed away due to illness during this year’s Spring Festival, unable to fulfill her dying wish of seeing her son one last time before her passing.
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