August 13, 2008
Two Others Remain in Detention
INNER MONGOLIA
China Aid Association (CAA) says that Yu Yongqing and Li Shusen were released on Aug. 6 and Aug 10, respectively.
Yu Yongqing was released after paying an undisclosed amount of money to Public Security Bureau (PSB) officials for his release.
Two of the four detained missionaries, Li Li and Wang Shuang remain in detention.
CAA says Mr. Wang's wife and sister visited the PSB detention center where he was being held and upon entering the station they were shown into Wang's cell where he was seen being hung by handcuffs. The two women left seriously distraught yet helpless to change the situation.
The other detainee, Li Li has been diagnosed by PSB officials as having a serious lung disease and possibly lung cancer. Detention guard officials, fearful that Li will die under their watch, have determined that Li will be placed under house detention with the condition that Li will promise not to escape while at home.
In a July 31 report by China Aid, the human rights watch group said the four missionaries in Inner Mongolia were arrested on July 20 and that police also searched their houses. Among the arrested, Wang Shuang was hung up and tortured by the police.
In that report, CAA said that missionary Li Li and her husband Li Shusen were arrested on July 17. At 9:00 p.m. on July 25, missionary Wang Shuang was taken away by the police and arrested. The charges against them were “utilizing a cult to undermine the implementation of the state law.”
According to an insider, “The authorities are apt to arrest leaders of the churches. They arrest whoever is in charge of the affairs. A sister of mine and I went to visit Li Li at a detention center and tried to give her some luggage. They directed us to the Homeland Security Defense Brigade office.
"The Homeland Security Defense Brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau is in charge of arresting people. They asked me direct questions and the investigation was thorough. They asked me how many years I have been a Christian and where I was baptized. Upon seeing me, she knew immediately that I am an ordinary believer and not a leader. Therefore, she didn’t arrest us."
According to information obtained by China Aid, most of these believers are peasants living in rural suburban areas and they are very simple people without sophistication.
China Aid stated: "On the other hand, Li Li came to this area to preach the Gospel from Jilin Province. She lived in urban areas. When they first arrested Li Li, the police also took away her two brothers who were not released until the second day. The above-mentioned insider also said: 'The charges against other people are not as serious as Li Li. They accused Li Li of associating with overseas reactionaries. They said people from overseas once sent her a remittance of 1,500 at a time and sometimes even 20,000. In fact, there is no such a thing.'"
Another insider told Fang Yuan, reporter from Radio Free Asia, that when some sisters went to the PSB to visit Wang Shuang, they saw with their own eyes "a scene of horror."
The insider told the radio station: “When his sisters and his wife went to see him (Wang Shuang), they saw upon entering the door that he was being hung with handcuffs. His trousers were at the bottom and his underwear was up there without the waistband. When the sisters came back and told other people, they were shocked."
A reporter from the radio station called Wang Shuang’s wife, Ms. Sun, for more information and she told him that at 9 o’clock on the 25th of the month, four policemen from the Homeland Security Defense Brigade of the Municipal Public Security Bureau climbed over the wall to enter the house of Wang Shuang. They took away Wang Shuang by force. On the second day, they interrogated her for a whole day. After that, they also searched her house.
She said: “When I went to the public security bureau to ask for the reasons, they also detained me for a day there. They interrogated me and asked me where I was baptized and where I began to believe in Jesus. After the interrogation, they hauled me back and turned my house upside down. They didn’t find anything but took away my notebook and my Bible. They also destroyed my kang the warm-bed just to look for Gospel flyers and books."
The reporter said: "According to our understanding, the police also told her to go to the PSB again on Monday, July 28. She didn’t go there as she is afraid."
As the police searched the houses of the four people arrested, all the belongings in the house church, including Christian books, computers and disks were all confiscated, Radio Free Asia stated.
For more information, contact:
China Aid Association, Inc.
Tel: (267) -205-5210
Fax: (432)-686-8355
E-mail: [email protected]
Websites: www.chinaaid.org; www.monitorchina.org
Contact: Daniel Burton (432)-689-6985
Copyright 2008 ASSIST News Service. Used with permission
