Chinese authorities have released the senior pastor of Zion Church, following nearly nine months of arbitrary detention.
Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri was among 28 leaders from the church who were detained in a series of nationwide raids in October last year. Zion Church has around 5,000 members, making it one of the largest and most influential unregistered churches in China.
In November, Pastor Jin and 17 other church members were charged with “illegally using information networks”. In June it was reported that the charges against Jin and others had been changed to “illegal business operations” and “fraud”.
The charges are typical of attempts to criminalise house churches in China. In September, Open Doors said that a crackdown on house churches had begun, with 70 Christians being detained. Some were arrested during services.
The charges brought were similar, often being related to “fraud”, “running an illegal business” or “organising unlawful meetings”. In at least one case, church members responsible for managing the collection were accused of financial wrongdoing, despite no complaints from within the church.
Pastor Jin was released on 4 July, with local sources claiming the release was a goodwill gesture from Chinese President Xi Jinping to US President Donald Trump to mark the US' Independence Day, which this year coincided with the nation's Semiquincentennial.
The release of Pastor Jin was welcomed by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), another group supporting persecuted Christians.
Mervyn Thomas, Founder President of CSW, said, “CSW welcomes the release of Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri and we are pleased to hear that he has been reunited with his family.
"We emphasise however that he and the other leaders of Zion Church are innocent of the charges levelled against them, and we remain concerned for the plight of those still in prison and on bail.
“We call for their immediate and unconditional release, and for that of all other religious leaders and adherents who are currently imprisoned in China in relation to the peaceful exercise of their fundamental human rights, including Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church and Christian human rights defender Zhang Zhan.”
