(Bengbu, Anhui Province – September 29, 2024) On September 20, 2024, You Xiulin, Liu Xunzhen, and Ma Peipei, the wives of Christians from the Cornerstone Reformed Church in Bengbu, Anhui, who have been charged with “fraud”, jointly issued an open letter to Zhou Xianliang, the President, and Zhao Wenjuan, the prosecutor of Yuhui District Procuratorate, as well as Zhang Jianmeng, the President, and Ge Hongqian, the judge of Yuhui District Court. In the letter, they raised six questions about the trial of their husbands’ case, hoping that the court and procuratorate could uphold the law impartially and demonstrate legal justice.
In the open letter, the three wives stated that their family members Wan Changchun, Xue Shaoqiang, Cao Binting, and Wan Chunqin were arrested successively in April 2023 for “illegal business operations”, but were later arrested for “fraud”. It has been 1 year and 5 months since then. The case has gone through investigation and prosecution, and is now at the trial stage. The wives said that in this era of rule of law, they have always had hope for the fairness and justice of the law, and have been looking forward to their family members being exonerated soon. However, the various practices of the case-handling agencies have left them greatly disappointed. Now, as family members, they have six questions for the judges and prosecutors:
- This case was only filed for illegal business operations, and there was no filing for fraud at all. Is this practice legal?
- At the first trial on May 16, 2024, the court prevented the lawyers from attending by not allowing them to bring computers. The lawyers then sought to handle, negotiate, and appeal with the relevant responsible persons. They originally thought the trial would be suspended, but unexpectedly, the judge forcibly held a trial for about 20 minutes without the lawyers present. Is this practice legal?
- The elements of fraud are: the perpetrator in this case (with the purpose of illegal possession) implements fraudulent behavior — the victim falls into a misconception — the victim disposes of property — the perpetrator obtains illegal gains. In this case, all those who paid offerings are Christians of their church, and everyone willingly offered according to the teachings of the Bible. Moreover, “tithing” is a tradition that has been followed by the universal Christian church for thousands of years, which is the consensus of Christian churches worldwide. Where is the fraud?
- The indictment accuses the defendants of fraudulently obtaining a total amount of over ￥1.51 million yuan, but according to the listed victim information, it is clear that only two people, Ke and Zhao, are victims. According to the case files, Ke orally stated only one offering of ￥1,000 yuan, while there is no person named Zhao in the case files at all. So with only two victims and a “fraud” amount of just over a thousand yuan, how can it be proved that the defendants fraudulently obtained as much as ￥1.51 million yuan?
- According to the law, prosecutors need to inquire with the victims when reviewing cases for prosecution. Did the prosecutor inquire with the victims? Is it clear who defrauded them in this case? How were they defrauded?
- Is this case really a fraud case, or is it religious persecution in the name of fraud?
On April 11, 2023, Pastor Wan Changchun was arrested by 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 on the same charge. Other elders, deacons, and co-workers of the church were successively summoned, the church finances were thoroughly searched, and accounts were frozen.
On May 18, 2023, with the approval of the Yuhui District People’s Procuratorate in Bengbu, the charge was changed, and the Yuhui District Public Security arrested Pastor Wan Changchun for “fraud”. The Yuhui District Public Security prosecuted four co-workers and Pastor Wan Changchun’s wife, You Xiulin, to the Yuhui District People’s Procuratorate for “fraud”. In response to these charges, the church has repeatedly publicly declared: The four co-workers of the church did not “defraud” anyone’s money, and the brothers and sisters all know they have not been defrauded. All offerings were willingly given, and the church’s expenditures were open and transparent.
The case held a pre-trial conference at the Yuhui District Court in Bengbu on May 13, 2024, with all four accused Christians attending. It is reported that they were calm and willing to suffer for the Lord, and none of them admitted any connection between the church’s collection of offerings and fraud.
The morning of May 16, 2024, was the official trial time for the case, but on the day of the trial, the court neither allowed lawyers to bring computers into the courtroom nor allowed the families of the four defendants and other Christians from the church to enter the courtroom. Only those who had obtained observer passes in the gallery could enter. In the end, neither the lawyers nor the families could enter the courtroom, and the trial could not proceed.
On September 9, 2024, the case again held a pre-trial conference at the Yuhui District Court in Bengbu. The reason for the retrial was a change in the composition of the court’s collegial panel. During the trial, the defense lawyers raised objections to jurisdiction, exclusion of illegal evidence, notification for victims to appear in court, public trial, and bail applications. During the trial on September 9, the prosecutor stated that all Christian witnesses who participated in offerings in this case would be added as victims, which was protested by the lawyers. The court has tentatively scheduled four consecutive days of hearings beginning on September 27.
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