The leader of a house church network in Shanxi province has been released into her family's care following her deteriorating health in a hard labour camp.
Church leader's release forces health bill onto family
One of the ten house church Christians sentenced in late 2009 to jail and labor camp has been released on medical parole due to her seriously deteriorating health, CSW's contacts report. Her sentence came as part of the government suppression of a vast house church network based in Shanxi province, north-east China.
Yang Caizhen's release followed the prison director's decision that her long-term health
bill would be too expensive for the prison to cover. She was therefore released at the expense of her family and is now at home being cared for by her mother, brother and sister-in-law. In the labour camp Yang was forced to work every day from 6am until 10 or 11pm, with virtually no money for healthcare.
Yang Caizhen close to death after deteriorating health
In February 2011, Yang started to feel feverish and reported pain throughout her body. The prison clinic gave her antibiotics, and the fever left. However, with a poor appetite and new fever that didn't respond to treatment, she was transferred to an outside hospital. A chest x-ray and blood test results concluded that she was in very poor health which included a high fever and liver inflammation. Her subsequent treatment was thought to involve long-term hospitalisation.
When she was released into her brother's care three days later, Yang was hardly able to speak. Her brother transferred Yang to a hospital in Xi'an, nine hours' drive away after paying her initial hospital bill, left unpaid by the prison. When they arrived, doctors there said her condition was so serious that any further delay in treatment could have led to her death. Yang remained in hospital for more than two weeks before going home.
CSW reports 2009 church attack and subsequent arrests
In September 2009, CSW reported that some 400 uniformed police and civilians carrying shovels, batons, bricks, iron hooks and other weapons had attacked church members from the house church network in Linfen who were sleeping at a nearly-completed church building. More than 100 people were hurt and dozens seriously injured. Two weeks later several church leaders, including Yang Caizhen, were arrested on their way to Beijing as they tried to launch a formal complaint about the attack.
CSW advocates for religious freedom in China through meetings with political representatives, and continues to raise with international authorities the cases of Christians and human rights lawyers imprisoned or being harassed for their faith.
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In recent years the situation for Christians in China has improved, but problems still remain. For example, government officials sometimes see church groups as a threat because of the large groups of people gathered without authorisation. In addition, house church leaders have been arrested for their Christian work, and bogus charges brought against them. Most of them can't afford a lawyer, so once they get to court their chance of a fair trial is very small. This gift funds their legal aid, helping to ensure that justice is done!
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