ICC Note:  A Christian who was arrested for protesting the events surrounding the attempted demolition of his church’s cross on Thursday is being persecuted for speaking out on behalf of his beliefs. The authorities’ argument is that by petitioning higher authorities, one is disrupting “social stability”. On the contrary, the reality of this situation is that an individual’s freedom to express his beliefs is being violated and squandered simply because he is a Christian. 

6/28/16, China, (ChinaAid)

(Wenzhou, Zhejiang—June 28, 2016) A local court in China’s coastal Zhejiang province will try a Christian arrested for protesting the events surrounding the attempted demolition of his church’s cross on Thursday.

Li Guisheng, the attorney hired to represent defendant Ji Qingcao, alleges that his client has been falsely accused of “the crime of obstructing government administration” for petitioning authorities in Beijing on behalf of Yazhong Church.

On Sept. 25, 2014, government personnel detained church members resisting a cross demolition attempt. During the incident, the protesters successfully rescued one of the Christians who had been seized by police. Additionally, the church reclaimed confiscated video footage of the event, and Ji posted it to the internet, which prompted police to criminally detain him on Jan. 9, 2015.

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