Rome (AsiaNews) – A 72 year-old Protestant leader was severely beaten by prison guards, who fractured both his legs for having converted 50 fellow prisoners, reported the U.S.-based Christian organization, China Aid Association.  

Last Feb. 6 Chen Jingmao, leader of the "Church of Southern China", outlawed by the Chinese government, was brutally beaten by guards as punishment. According to "reliable" sources, guards said during their violent assault that "his actions –converting others to Christianity –are cause for embarrassment to the Communist Party."

Chen, born in Yunyang County (near Chongqing) is detained in Chongqing's Three Gorges Prison. He was arrested on June 9, 2001. The People's Court of Yunyang sentenced him to a 4-year prison term on March 14, 2002.    

Chen was charged with "using an 'evil cult' to obstruct the law." During his verdict the Court described his "crime" as the "active reluctance of evil cult members" and the "organization of illegal and secret religious gatherings on various occasions." He was also found guilty of "distributing propaganda on evil cults (i.e. Christian magazine "Salvation and China")   

The main evidence brought against him was when Chen sent his grandson to school to become a catechist in 2001. Already in the past Chen was twice arrested on charges of "illegal evangelical activities". Under Chen's same accusation nine other members of the Church of Southern China are now in prison serving 3-8 year sentences.

The founder of the Church of Southern China, Gong Shengliang, has also been imprisoned since 2001.

The Voice of Martyrs said that last week that Gong Shengliang appeared injured and hobbling before family members visiting him at the  Wuhan Hongshan Prison in Hubei. The pastor asked his 3 sisters "if at all possible, please have them (prison officials) transfer me to another prison, or else you'll have to come remove my dead body."

When his sisters asked for an explanation of Gong's physical state, prison guards responded saying the pastor had fallen while washing windows. Sun Wenquan, the prison's warden, said that Gong was a model prisoner in everything, yet he doesn't want to deny his faith in Christ. The warden said Chong prays constantly and preaches the Gospel.  "He so into the Bible that he's lost touch with reality," he said.    

Gong Shengliang may well be a contemporary Chinese martyr. Arrested in 2001 Gong and 16 other faithful were found guilty of on charges of participating in "evil cults" and given the dealth penalty.

Mobilization on the part of the international community and U.S. President George W. Bush in person helped change Gong's death sentence to life imprisonment. So too were his main accusations changes, as Gong was re-sentenced on charges of raping female members of his Church's community. Some members of Gong's community said the "confessions" of the women were made under torture.

On June 11, 2003 Amnesty International launched an appeal for Gong Shengliang, since he risked dying in prison of brutal torture, being left bed-ridden for several weeks.

The "Church of Southern China" has 50,000 faithful in Hubei and Hunan, who refuse to be registered with and be checked on by the Patriotic Association. (MR)