CHINA The Church of Almighty God: Prisoners Database (1663 cases) Prison term: 15 years HE Zhexun Date of birth: On 18th September 1963 Date and place of arrest: On 10th March 2009, in Xuchang City, Henan Province Charges: Disturbing social order and using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being an upper-level leader of The Church of Almighty God in mainland China, who was responsible for the overall work of the church Statement of the defendant: He disagreed with the decision and said what he believed in is not a Xie Jiao. Court decision: In February 2010, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Zhongyuan District People’s Court of Zhengzhou City, Henan Province. Place of imprisonment: No. 1 Prison of Henan Province Other information: He was regarded by the Chinese authorities as a major criminal of the state and had long been on the wanted list. To arrest him, authorities offered 500,000 RMB as a reward to informers who gave tips leading to his arrest to police. He was arrested at the home of a Christian in Xuchang City, Henan Province. Based on the information from a Christian serving his sentence in the same prison, HE Zhexun was imprisoned in a separate area and not allowed to contact other prisoners. XIE Gao, ZOU Yuxiong, SONG Xinling and GAO Qinlin were arrested in succession alongside him and sentenced to prison terms ranging from 11 to 12 years. Source: https://goo.gl/aGkHBj Prison term: 14 years MENG Xiumei Age: Forty-one years old Date and place of arrest: On 14th August 2014, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Charges: Using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being a leader of The Church of Almighty God and organizing gatherings for Christians and the work of preaching the gospel in Ili prefecture Statement of the defendant: She claimed that her act did not constitute crimes. First court decision: On 3rd December 2015, she was sentenced to fourteen years in prison and the deprivation of political rights for five years by the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Sub-court of the Higher People’s Court of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Last court decision: On 12th August 2016, the Higher People’s Court of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region upheld the original decision. Other Information: The police took away 16,500 RMB (about 2,100 euros) from MENG Xiumei’s mother and did not return it to her. Another nine Christians were sentenced alongside her to prison terms ranging from three to fourteen years. ZHU Jian Age: Forty-two years old Date and place of arrest: On 26th July 2014, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region Charge: Using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being in charge of the local video production work in The Church of Almighty God and participating in shooting videos for the church. First court decision: On 3rd December 2015, he was sentenced to fourteen years in prison by People’s Court of Yining, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, and was deprived of political rights for five years. Last court decision: On 12th August 2016, Supreme People’s Court of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region upheld the decision. 2 Other Information: He was sentenced alongside nine other Christians, who were sentenced to three to fourteen years in prison. Prison term: 13 years BAO Shuguang Age: Forty-two years old Date and place of arrest: On 1st June 2017, in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province Charges: Organizing and using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being an upper-level leader of The Church of Almighty God, organizing Christians to gather and spread the gospel, and keeping in the meeting place laptops and portable hard drives containing information on belief in God, cash of over 10,000 RMB, and some other church properties Statement of the defendant: She claimed that she only believed in Almighty God and engaged in proper belief activities, and that she did not commit any crime, much less undermine law enforcement. Court Decision: In October 2018, the Shizhong District People’s Court of Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province sentenced her to 13 years in prison (from 23rd June 2017 to 11th June 2030), deprived her of political rights for 4 years, and fined her 130,000 RMB (about 16,400 euros). Place of imprisonment: Women’s Prison of Shandong Province Other information: Seven other Christians were arrested alongside her and sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to twelve years. Source: https://goo.gl/Yihf3M LI Gufen Age: Forty-five years old Date and place of arrest: On 22nd July 2014, in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region 3 Charge: Using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being in charge of distributing books and materials of The Church of Almighty God in Yili State. First court decision: On 3rd December 2015, she was sentenced to thirteen years in prison by People’s Court of Yining, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and was deprived of political rights for four years. Statement of the defendant: She claimed that she only preached the gospel and her act did not constitute crimes and the original sentence was too heavy. Last court decision: On 12th August 2016, Supreme People’s Court of Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region upheld the decision. Other Information: She was sentenced alongside nine other Christians, who were sentenced to three to fourteen years in prison. XIA Fenzhen Date of birth: On 12th September 1971 Date and place of arrest: On 20th March 2014, in Shunqing District, Nanchong City, Sichuan Province Charge: Using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being in charge of printing, transporting, spreading, and distributing the books of The Church of Almighty God, as well as purchasing and repairing MP4 players, MP5 players, SD cards, CDs, and other things for the Christians to study the teachings. Statement of the defendant: She claimed that she only believed in Almighty God and engaged in proper belief activities, that she did not commit any crime, much less undermine law enforcement. First court decision: On 9th December 2015, she was sentenced to thirteen years in prison and deprived of political rights for three years. Last court decision: On 29th December 2016, Intermediate People’s Court of Nanchong, Sichuan upheld the decision. Place of imprisonment: Jianyang Women’s Prison in Sichuan Province 4 Prison term: 12 years BAI Lanxiang Age: Thirty-five years old Date and place of arrest: On 1st June 2017, in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province Charges: Organizing and using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being an upper-level leader of The Church of Almighty God, organizing Christians to gather and spread the gospel, and keeping in the meeting place laptops and portable hard drives containing information on belief in God, cash of over 10,000 RMB, and some other church properties Court Decision: In October 2018, the Shizhong District People’s Court of Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province sentenced her to 12 years in prison (from 23rd June 2017 to 11th June 2029), deprived her of political rights for 3 years, and fined her 120,000 RMB (about 15,200 euros). Place of imprisonment: Women’s Prison of Shandong Province Other information: Seven other Christians were arrested alongside her and sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to thirteen years. Source: https://goo.gl/Yihf3M CHEN Hong Age: Thirty-two years old Date and place of arrest: On 1st June 2017, in Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province Charges: Organizing and using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being an upper-level leader of The Church of Almighty God, organizing Christians to gather and spread the gospel, and keeping in the meeting place laptops and portable hard drives containing information on belief in God, cash of over 10,000 RMB, and some other church properties 5 Statement of the defendant: She claimed that she only believed in Almighty God and engaged in proper belief activities, and that she did not commit any crime, much less undermine law enforcement. Court Decision: In October 2018, the Shizhong District People’s Court of Zaozhuang City, Shandong Province sentenced her to 12 years in prison (from 23rd June 2017 to 11th June 2029), deprived her of political rights for 3 years, and fined her 120,000 RMB (about 15,200 euros). Place of imprisonment: Women’s Prison of Shandong Province Other information: Seven other Christians were arrested alongside her and sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to thirteen years. Source: https://goo.gl/Yihf3M DONG Qihong Date of birth: On 3rd July 1972 Date and place of arrest: On 16th May 2013, in Suqian City, Jiangsu Province. Charges: Using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of producing and transporting 340,906 copies of the books of The Church of Almighty God in Jiangsu Province Court decision: On 15th December 2014, he was given a twelve-year sentence, which will end on 1st June 2025, and was deprived of political rights for four years. Place of imprisonment: Hongzehu Prison of Jiangsu Province Other information: On 25th November 2016, he was given an eleven-month remission. Source: http://bit.ly/2nXPRWy http://bit.ly/2BWU8TE GAO Qinlin Date and place of arrest: In March 2009, in Henan Province 6 Charge: Using a Xie Jiao organization to undermine law enforcement because of being an upper-level leader of The Church of Almighty God in Henan and responsible for the gatherings of Christians and the gospel work of the church in Henan.