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New violence against Christians in home churches in Beijing
Police officers without any warrant arrest 12 Christians in the capital helped by unidentified people. New arrests take place in Zhejiang on the eve of Protestant leaders’ trial in Xiaoshan.
Beijing (AsiaNews) – A group of policemen and unidentified persons broke into the home of Xiu Ruibin, a house church missionary in Beijing, beat people in the house and destroyed the furniture. Before the attack two other church leaders were put under house arrest in Xiaoshan on the eve of the court trial of 8 Christian leaders “guilty” of having protested against the destruction of their church, this according to the China Aid Association (CAA), a US-based NGO fighting for religious freedom in China.
The CAA reports that a few days before the attack, some of Xiu’s former colleagues in Heilongjiang Province, who came to Beijing to complain to the central government about illegal actions of their local government, were physically attacked by unknown assailants.
Ms Xiu took them into her own home for their safety and to preach the gospel to them.
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Since the police did not show a warrant or any r legal documents, Xiu protested to An. Not long after, An came back and asked to enter into Xiu’s home again. Xiu refused because he still could not produce a search warrant. An angry An called several policemen and a gang of unknown men who smashed the door and entered the dome. The dozen or so Christians who were in the house were arrested and taken away.
A few days later, on December 14, 2006, unidentified men abducted Tu Shichang and Yu Fuliang, two home church leaders on their way to the church. The kidnapping occurred on the on the eve of the trial of the 8 Christian leaders in Xiaoshan, Zhejiang province.
Local sources believe police is behind the abductions, which are intended to prevent local Christians from disrupting the trial.
December 7, 2006, a group of policemen led by officer An, came to Xiu’s home to investigate. They threatened the guests and confiscated their ID cards.