Five Chinese Christians are being jailed for buying and selling Bible devotionals in an ongoing state crackdown on religious freedom.
Four women and one man were arrested last June over possession of the 'officially forbidden Christian devotional books'. Last week a court in north-eastern Liaoning province handed down a range of prison sentences from three to seven years, according to China Aid, a human rights charity.
Pastor Li Dongzhe and Piao Shunnan were given a seven-year sentence. Zhao Chunxia and Li Yuan were given five-years and Shi Jinyan three years.
In a separate case the wife of another pastor imprisoned for selling Christian books told of how he was forced to falsely increase the value of the books so his jail sentence could be lengthened.
Xu Lei, wife of imprisoned Guangfu Church member Li Hongmin, said her husband was coerced into changing the value of the books from 40,000 Yuan ($5,820.00) to 50,000 Yuan ($7,275.00). It meant when he was taken into police custody on June 2 2016 he was charged with 'illegal business operations' and faced three years in prison.
Despite being arrested more than eight months ago Li is yet to be charged. He has had two court sessions without verdict where the government's prosecutors asked more about his church's activities than the selling of books.
The cases are part of an ongoing crackdown on religious freedom in China with churches frequently targeted with cross removals and sporadic arrests.
