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Pastor Zhang Zhongxin in Shandong will be on a closed door trial

September 25th, 2008 · No Comments

According to China Aid Association, Mr. Zhang Zhongxin, a pastor of a house church in Jiaxiang, Jining city, Shandong province, will be on a closed door trial tomorrow (Friday in China). Pastor Wang is one of the conscience prisoners in our list for release appeal.

Issued by ChinaAid, September 24, 2008

SHANDONG — A closed-door trial willl be held for Pastor Zhang Zhongxin at 9 a.m. on September 26 at the labor camp in Shandong province where he is serving a two-year sentence of reeducation-through-labor. The ruling will determine whether this sentence, imposed upon Zhang on July 6 of this year, was an appropriate punishment. Pastor Zhang’s attorneys and relatives have been banned from meeting with him or reviewing his files, because authorities claim Pastor Zhang is suspected of endangering state security. If the court finds Zhang innocent of the crimes against him, the reeducation sentence will be repealed. However, if the court rules in favor of the sentencing, Zhang will remain in labor camp until 2010.

Christian defense attorneys Li Fangping and Zhang Jianfeng continue to try to meet with Pastor Zhang. China Aid will continue to monitor the trial.

Tags: Religous Persecution

Introduction to the Founder

Dr. Yang Jianli

Founder and President of Initiatives for China, Dr. Yang Jianli was born in Shandong Province in northern China. A graduate of Beijing Normal University, Dr. Yang holds a PhD. in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in Political Economy from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. In 1989, at the age of 26, his fellow graduate students at Berkeley selected him to go to Beijing in support of their counterparts in China who were demonstrating for democracy in Tiananmen Square. He arrived in Tiananmen Square in time to witness the massacre of thousands of peaceful demonstrators by the guns and tanks of the Chinese government. This event fundamentally changed young Jianli's future. He narrowly escaped capture and returned to the United States where he committed himself to studying democracy. Read more...