(Taiyuan, Shanxi Province – September 26, 2024) Xu Cuili, a Christian sister from Xuncheng Reformed Church in Taiyuan, was given 15 days of administrative detention and fined 500 yuan by local police for gathering with other church members at a restaurant on April 3, 2022. Due to the pandemic at that time, the detention was postponed. Xu Cuili has recently been administratively detained for 15 days, from September 23, 2024, to October 8, 2024.
The Administrative Penalty Decision from the Yingze Branch of Taiyuan Public Security Bureau states:
It has been determined that: At around 8:00 AM on April 3, 2022, the offender Xu Cuili, along with Yao Yaqin, Wang Houjie, Wang Ying, Wang Shufang, Guo Juan, and about twenty others, illegally gathered at the restaurant in Home Inn on South Neihuan Street, Yingze District, Taiyuan City, conducting activities in the name of a social organization. This social organization was not registered and they continued to organize activities under the name of this social organization after it was banned.
According to Article 54, Paragraph 1, Item 1 of the “Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China”, it is now decided to impose 15 days of administrative detention and a fine of ￥500 yuan on the offender Xu Cuili.
On April 3, 2022, the Sunday gathering of Xuncheng Reformed Church in Taiyuan was disrupted. Police took away seven Christians, including Yao Congya (wife of Pastor An Yankui), Guo Juan (wife of Zhang Chenghao), Wang Yingjie, and Wang Ying, citing pandemic prevention reasons. At that time, An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao were already in prison. The seven Christians were handcuffed and taken to detention rooms. Two male Christians were handcuffed to ground stakes, while three female Christians were restrained in tiger chairs. In the end, all seven Christians refused to sign a guarantee “not to participate in Xuncheng Reformed Church gatherings” again. The police imposed 15 days of administrative detention and a fine of 500 yuan each, but due to the pandemic at the time, the administrative detention had to be postponed, so they were each fined 500 yuan at that time.
On the morning of August 5, 2022, the case of “illegally crossing the border” for Pastor An Yankui and Zhang Chenghao was heard in court. The day before the trial, Taiyuan Yingze Police Station took away Yao Congya, Pastor An’s wife, under the pretext of questioning, and began to execute the 15-day administrative detention from April 3. The execution of administrative detention one day before the trial of Pastor An’s case was clearly to prevent Yao Congya from attending the trial.
After the trial ended that day, Guo Juan, Zhang Chenghao’s wife, was also taken away by police while eating at a restaurant, for the same reason as Pastor An’s wife, to serve the 15-day administrative detention from April 3. Wang Yingjie and his wife Wang Ying served their 15-day administrative detention on June 9, 2023.
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