China Aid Network | Christians in Yinchuan, Ningxia, were raided, 4 were administratively detained, and Ma Yan was charged with “organizing illegal assembly” after the end of his detention and was criminally detained

    (Yinchuan, Ningxia, China – 8/24/2024) It is reported that when several Christians in Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, Ningxia, gathered together, they were attacked by local political and security forces and the public security bureau. Four Christians were charged with “disrupting social order,” of whom two were administratively detained for 7 days, and the other two were administratively detained for 10 days. After the administrative detention expired, Ma Yan was again criminally detained by the Jinfeng Public Security Bureau on suspicion of organizing illegal gatherings.

    Around 4 p.m. on August 9, 2024, Ma Yan and less than 10 Christians were gathering in a homestay in Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City, when they were attacked by the political and security police of the Jinfeng District Public Security Bureau and police officers from the local police station. Two brothers were administratively detained for 7 days for disrupting social order, and Ma Yan and another brother were administratively detained for 10 days for disrupting social order.

    The administrative penalty decision issued by the Jinfeng Branch of the Yinchuan Public Security Bureau on August 10 stated: It is now found that at about 15:00 on August 9, 2024, police officers from our bureau discovered that someone was holding a gathering in Room 1712 of the Xinrui Hotel, Wanda Plaza C, Jinfeng District, Yinchuan City. Our police officers went to the hotel and found Ma. “Conducting illegal Christian gatherings in the name of religion in non-religious venues, disrupting normal social order, and being identified as illegal religious activities by the Jinfeng District Religious Affairs Bureau.”

    The above facts are confirmed by the statements and defenses of the violator Ma Yan; witness records; inspection records; identification records, and extraction records, etc.

    In summary, Ma Yan’s illegal act of disrupting public order is established. According to the provisions of Article 23, paragraph 1, item (2) of the “Public Security Administration Punishment Law of the People’s Republic of China,” it is now decided to impose a ten-day administrative detention on Ma Yan. The method and duration of execution are to be sent to the Yinchuan Detention Center for execution, and the execution period is from August 10, 2024 to August 20, 2024.

    On August 20, 2024, the administrative detention period expired, and Ma Yan received a notice of release from administrative detention from the Jinfeng Public Security Bureau. However, on the same day, Ma Yan also received a “Criminal Detention Notice” issued by the Jinfeng Public Security Bureau, with the charge of “suspected of organizing illegal gatherings.” Therefore, Ma Yan was immediately detained in the Yinchuan City Detention Center as soon as he was released from the detention center.

    This is the second case known to the outside world in recent years in Ningxia where Christians have been charged with the crime of “suspected of organizing illegal gatherings.” Another case occurred on December 5, 2021, at the Panshi Church in Huenong District, Shizuishan, Ningxia. When the Panshi Church held a Sunday worship service in a remote flat in the water plant of Huenong District, it was attacked by the local state security, the police station, and the Religious Affairs Bureau. The next day, the police imposed an administrative detention of 15 days on Pastor Geng Zejun on the grounds of “disrupting social order”; Pastor Geng Zejun’s wife, Hao Ying, and another 5 believers were administratively detained by the police for 10 days and then released on bail pending trial. Two weeks after the end of his administrative detention, on January 4, 2022, Pastor Geng Zejun was summoned again, and the police criminally detained him on suspicion of “organizing and funding illegal gatherings”; On January 25, 2022, Pastor Geng was formally arrested on the charge of “suspected of organizing illegal gatherings.” On July 13, 2022, the People’s Court of Huenong District, Shizuishan City, held a hearing on the case of Pastor Geng Zejun’s alleged “illegal organization of gatherings” in the form of a video, and Pastor Geng accepted the hearing in the detention center. On August 11, 2022, the first instance verdict was: Pastor Geng Zejun was sentenced to one year and three months in prison. On August 20, Pastor Geng filed an appeal, and on November 7, he received the judgment: the appeal was rejected, and the original judgment was upheld.

    On August 24, 2024, Ma Yan’s family issued a prayer letter disclosing the news of Ma Yan’s detention. The prayer letter said that the constitution stipulates that citizens have freedom of religious belief, and Christian gatherings are not illegal gatherings, nor do they disrupt social order. Please pray urgently for the church in Yinchuan and for Brother Ma Yan who is imprisoned.

    (Report by special correspondent Lemon of China Aid Network)