Three-year Prison Sentence for Distributing Bible

By Zheng Yuwen | VOICE OF AMERICA NEWS | The Epoch Times
June 16, 2009

A Beijing court recently sentenced a bookstore owner to three years in prison for printing and circulating the Bible. He was officially convicted for conducting "illegal business activities." Observers say that this sentencing shows China only pays lip service to religious freedom. People's right to follow their own faith is heavily restricted or even stripped away.

The bookstore sells Christian books in Beijing. The owner, 38-year-old Mr. Shi Weihan, is also the leader of a house church. On June 10, a court in Beijing sentenced him to three years in prison, and charged him 150,000 Yuan (approximately $20,000) in fines. Six others, including members of the same church and workers at the printing house, were also sentenced to prison or fined.

Shi's wife, Ms. Zhang Jing, told VOA that the family was surprised by the long sentence term. Shi's daughters, who are 8 and 12, are having a hard time accepting the sentence. Ms. Zhang said, "The two kids feel that their father is innocent. They don't know why he was convicted and sentenced."

Shi was arrested on November 28, 2007 by the authorities. He was released on January 4, 2008, but was arrested again on March 19, 2008. He had been detained at the Haidian Detention Center since then.

Ms. Zhang said that Shi has severe diabetes. Since March 2008, family members were prohibited from visiting or giving him medicine. His lawyer requested medical parole but received no response. The family is very concerned about Shi's health.

Shi's youngest daughter was born in the United States and is a US citizen. Since Shi's arrest, the U.S. Embassy in China has called his family several times to inquire about his situation.

A VOA reporter called Haidian Police Bureau for Shi's information. Bureau staff told the reporter to submit a written request before they would grant an interview.

>> Original source

>> Read the original article in Chinese (中文)