U.S. senator and congressman condemn harsh sentence of Pastor Yang Hua
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and Rep. Chris Smith have issued separate statements on Wednesday expressing their concerns about the harsh sentencing of Chinese pastor Yang Hua.
Yang, whose real name is Li Guozhi, is the pastor of Living Stone Church in Guiyang, the capital of the Guizhou province. He was taken into police custody on Dec. 9, 2015 for trying to prevent authorities from confiscating a church hard drive during a raid. He was charged with "divulging state secrets" and was formally arrested on Jan. 22, 2016.
The pastor pleaded not guilty at a closed-door hearing in Nanming district court last month. Four days after the hearing, the court handed down the verdict, sentencing him to two and a half years' imprisonment.
Rubio and Smith, who are the co-chairs of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC), released their statements condemning the verdict on Yang.
"These believers desire nothing more than to peacefully live out their faith, yet the Chinese government is treating them as enemies of the state as depriving them of their most basic rights," Rubio's statement read, as reported by China Aid.
Smith described the Yang's sentence as "another sad demonstration of China's efforts to suppress and control independent religious activity." He called for the unconditional release of Yang as well as the other pastors of Living Stone Church.
"Given the persistent growth of religious belief in China it is unclear why, other than uninformed fear and stubborn ideological orthodoxy, less counterproductive approaches are not being considered. Pastor Yang Hua, and the other Christian leaders from the Living Stone Church, should be released immediately and unconditionally," he stated.
Yang's lawyers, Zhao Yonglin and Chen Jiangang, had alleged that he was tortured by the prosecutors in order to obtain a confession. Yang requested that the prosecutors be barred from the case, but the court permitted them to remain.
Last September, the lawyers discovered during a visit with their client that he had been suffering from serious health conditions.
Yang's wife, Wang Hongwu, said after the trial that he could only walk with assistance from detention center guards. She disclosed that Yang will likely appeal the case, but he has yet to be allowed to meet with his lawyer.