Three Chinese Christians faced charges of "providing intelligence to overseas's organizations"

The charges of "providing intelligence to overseas organizations" were brought against Liu Fenngang, Xu Yonghai and Zhang Shengqi in the Zhejiang provincial capital of Hangzhou. Police detained Liu, who was based in Beijing, in October while he was researching a crackdown on Christian groups in Hangzhou’s Xiaoshan district. Xu and Zhang were active members of Liu's house church. Authorities detained Xu, a psychiatrist, in Beijing last November. Zhang, an internet writer, was arrested in Jilin province the same month.

The People Intermediate Court in Hangzhou delayed the hearing till Tuesday for the three men, who only recently received official notification of the charges against them and hired attorneys. The court did not give specific reasons for the delay,
The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) sources said a verdict is not likely to be announced immediately after the hearing, but days or weeks later.

"The world is watching,"said Todd Nettleton, VOM's’sDirector of News Services. "Will these Christian men be given a fair and open trial? Is there any justice in China for those who refuse to register their religious activities with the government? These men revealed no state secrets. Their only crime is telling the world how China's Communist government treats Christians.?"

The VOM urges Christians around the world to pray for justice for the three men, and for other Christians in China.