Christian Groups Fear Death Penalty for Chinese Religious Leader

International concern has reached new levels over the past days regarding the fate of Chinese religious leader Xu Shuangfu, who is waiting for a court verdict, with worries that a death sentence will be issued, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW).

|TOP|Xu is the leader of a religious group named 'The Three Grades of Servants', one well-known controversial group operating in China.

CSW has reported that Xu along with at least fifteen others from the group were put on trial from Feb 28th to March 3rd in the Shuangyashan Intermediate Court, Heilongjiang Province in the northeast of China. International human rights organisations are watching for the imminent verdict.

CSW tell that China Aid Association (CAA), an organisation documenting religious persecution in China, reported that government sources have said that Xu and at least three co-defendants will be sentenced to death.

The government has accused the defendants of murdering leaders of the Eastern Lightning group, another group that has been the centre of extremist claims and controversy in the country, as well as defrauding members of their own group.

The case has come under intense international scrutiny, after evidence emerged at the trial that severe torture and sexual abuse had been used against the defendants to extract confessions.

Evidence that has been issued had shown Xu describing how he was hung in the air for five hours and how interrogators tied his fingers, toes and genitals with wire and then connected the wire to an electrical supply.

|AD|The CAA report that Xu's daughter, Ms Xu Baiyin, who was in court, stated that Xu immediately revoked his confession as soon as the court finished reading the interrogation records provided by the prosecutors.

In addition to this, Mr Li Maoxing, the second defendant, showed the court injuries to his fingers and said that the torture experts used a new torture method known as "Pi Long Pao" which involved suspending him with a very thick blanket and then giving him electric shocks while he was soaking wet, report CSW.

Xu denied all accusations in court, however, the chief judge disrupted the defence's case pleading Xu's innocence 20 times during proceedings, report CSW.

Xu disappeared in April 2004 in Harbin in Heilongjiang Province in a crackdown that is reported to have seen the arrest of over fifty members of his group.

CAA explains that numerous members of group have already been sentenced to death, although CSW tell that the decisions have not been approved by the People's Supreme Court and uncertainty remains as to whether the death sentences have been carried out.

CSW also report that one of the group, Gu Xianggao, was beaten to death in custody the day after being detained on 26th April. His parents were given the considerable sum of compensation of 230,000 RMB (US$ 28,000 / £ 16,400 / € 23,800) and ordered not to speak about the situation.

Tina Lambert, CSW's Advocacy Director, stated "It is obviously deeply concerning that such brutal torture has been used to extract confessions which were then produced in court against these religious leaders. Clearly any verdict based on such evidence is in flagrant breach of the core principles of international law. We encourage the public to join us as we urge the Chinese authorities to immediately ensure that these breaches of fair trial do not result in a serious miscarriage of justice."