China Aid Association August 19, 2013
China Aid has learned that Li Shuangping, leader of Linfen house church, was abducted and beaten by agents of the local government on the night of Aug. 13.
Li reported that he was driving home when a young man pretending to be intoxicated staggered into the path of his car, forcing Li to stop. Simultaneously, a black sedan drove up near Li’s vehicle. Three men exited the black sedan and, along with the man pretending to be intoxicated, grabbed Li’s hand, yanking him from his vehicle. Li was then forced into the black sedan where he was blindfolded and restrained with rope.
According to Li, while one of the men drove, the other three held him down in the backseat while they punched and kicked his head, neck and torso. Li said that as the beating occurred, one of the men verbally threatened Li, asking him how he would like to die as a result of leading a house church. Li reported that the man threated violent deaths ranging from being thrown into a river to drinking sulfuric acid. The man also threated to kidnap and kill Li’s family including his children.
Li reported that over the course of the ride, the car departed the main roads of the city for bumpy dirt roads. When the car stopped, Li was thrown in a cornfield.
Li was first reported to the local police station for being a house church leader in September 2009. Li believes that the events of Aug. 13 were secretly ordered by the local government in order to threaten Li and other house church leaders and suppress the house churches, effectively denying these citizens their right to freedom of religion.
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