what are believed to be trumped up charges, an official told BosNewsLife.
The accused are members of the Three Grades of Servants with an estimated half a million members nationwide, said Reverend Bob Fu, president of religious rights group China Aid Association (CAA) and a former House Church pastor in Beijing.
Fu said CAA has learned that the trial will be held at Shuangyashan Intermediate Court in China’s Heilongjiang province. Main leader Xu Wenku along with 16 of his top leaders will be charged of having murdered 20 leaders from a group called Eastern Lightning.
Xu is reportedly also accused of involvement in a 32 million Yuan (about $4 million) fraud scandal. He served over 10 years in labor camps and prisons since 1976 primarily for "illegal evangelizing activities," according to a prosecution paper CAA claimed to have obtained.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
Government sources told CAA that Xu, who is apparently held in the Shuangyashan Detention Center of Heilongjiang Province, and at least three of his accused members will be receiving capital punishment for the alleged crimes, Fu said.
CAA investigators have suggested however that Xu and other leaders were tortured into confessions during interrogations. One of the arrested leaders, Mr. Gu Xianggao, was allegedly
tortured to death in April 2004. His family reportedly received a substantial amount of compensation in exchange for silence.
An unknown number of other leaders of the group have also been sentenced to death, before Monday’s latest court case, according to human rights investigators. Although The Three Grades of Servants does not have any formal links with the Chinese House Church movement, CAA believes it is essential that they are entitled to "a fair trial that recognizes and protects all of their Constitutional rights," Fu said .
CHRISTIAN FAITH
"Certainly any of the basic teachings of authentic Christian faith are contrary to any actions like
those listed in the charges. The Chinese House church movement strongly condemns the use of violence and murder," he explained. "However in the past few years, cases like South China Church and the sentence of Beijing House church pastor Cai Zhuohua showed that there has been a trend to criminalize any religious activities that is outside the religion embraced by the Chinese Communist Party," Fu stressed.
"These criminal prosecutions have been carried out for the clear purpose of destroying the accused religious group or its leaders. This trial may demonstrate the degree to which the Chinese government may be willing to ignore or suspend constitutional safeguards to destroy particular religious groups."
Earlier attempts to prosecute The Three Grades of Servants reportedly failed due to a lack of evidence. CAA has urged the international community to demand a fair trial and make sure that the evidence is true. Chinese authorities have denied human rights abused and wide spread torture. China says it only cracks down on "dangerous sects" and that believers are free to worship in government approved churches. (With BosNewsLife Research and reports from China).
