Beijing (AsiaNews) - Days after China's legislature amended the state constitution to include a clause on the protection of human rights, three Chinese Christians have been secretly tried for exposing the religious crack-down in Hangzhou city. Liu Fenggang, Xu Yonghai, and Zhang Shengqi were tried behind close-doors on Tuesday at the Intermediate People's Court of Hangzhou in the eastern Zhejian province. Charged with "providing intelligence to organizations outside of China", the three men had told overseas organizations of the persecution of Christians in Hangzou, where more than a dozen home churches have been destroyed, and at least 300 Christians have been arrested, some of them physically abused.
The court has not released the verdict yet, but the men face 10 years to life in prison.
Family members were refused entry into the courtroom. When questioned, officials refused to comment. "This involves state security. We cannot speak to reporters about this," court employee Xu Minghui said.
The threesome's arrest followed a report Liu researched and submitted to overseas organizations last July, concerning the religious persecutions. Mr. Xu printed the report and Zhang helped to distribute it through the internet. When Liu travelled to Hangzhou from his home in Beijing last October 13th to carry out further research, he was arrested. Mr. Xu was arrested with his wife Li Shanna on November 9th, who was released six hours later. Zhang was detained on November 26th.