China Aid Association
(Huocheng, Xinjiang—July 21, 2012) A house church pastor in the far western region of Xinjiang who has had five stints in prison because of his faith held a series of law lectures to arm believers with general legal knowledge.
Pastor Lou Yuanqi hosted the lecture series on June 6 at his Qingshuihe house church in Huocheng county, in the Ili region of Xinjiang. He and other experts were the lecturers.
Pastor Lou has been imprisoned five times. In September 2001, he was locked up for 15 days. In January 2006, he spent one month in detention. In December 2007, he was jailed again for more than a month. He has long been in poor health and suffers from chronic hepatitis B. During a 32-day incarceration with three other pastors that began on Oct. 20, 2006, he was tortured.
His last stint in prison began on May 17, 2008 when he was criminally detained by the police on suspicion of “inciting separatism.” On June 19, the Huocheng county procuratorate authorized his arrest on the charge of “using superstition to undermine law enforcement.” On Dec. 15, 2008, he was tried and convicted of this crime. He was represented by Beijing rights defense lawyer Li Dunyong. ChinaAid persistently called for his release, and under the ensuing international pressure, he was remanded on bail and allowed to return home on April 24, 2009 at 5 p.m.
ChinaAid’s reports on his case include the following:
https://chinaaid.org/2009/04/pastor-lou-yuanqi-released-from-prison.html
https://chinaaid.org/2009/03/insufficient-evidence-for-pastor-lou.html
Below are some pictures of the law training lectures:
China Aid Contacts
Rachel Ritchie, English Media Director
Cell: (432) 553-1080 | Office: 1+ (888) 889-7757 | Other: (432) 689-6985
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.chinaaid.org
