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Liangren Church Persecution Continues: Wang Dao Criminally Detained, Wife Interrogated, Sunday Worship Disrupted
Contact: Annee Kahler, Media Coordinator, 267-210-8278, Annee@ChinaAid.org; Jenny McCloy, Directory of Advocacy in Washington, DC, 202-213-0506, Jenny@ChinaAid.org; www.ChinaAid.org, www.MonitorChina.org
 
GUANGDONG, China, May 10 /Christian Newswire/ -- In the latest wave of persecution against Liangren Church, Pastor Wang Dao was criminally detained on May 9, following two days of interrogations. He was detained first on May 7, then again on May 8 for questioning. On Sunday, May 9, Pastor Dao's wife received notice of her husband's formal criminal detention, purportedly on charges of "gathering a mob to disrupt the public order." The criminal detention notice was dated "May 9, 2010"--suggesting the charges were retroactively established. He is currently being held at the Fanyu District Detention Center of Guangzhou Municipality.
 
Photo: Members of Liangren Church were disrupted by police while meeting in Guangzhou People's Park on Sunday, May 9.
 
Authorities searched Wang's home for evidence on May 8. "When they found Pastor Wang Dao's computer, they were in a euphoria," Mrs. Wang reported. "They said they at last had the evidence with which they could punish him for his offense. After that, they seized Pastor Wang Dao's ID card, passport, Hong Kong-Macau Pass and bank passbook." See the translated list of confiscated materials.
 
Following the search, the officers summoned Mrs. Wang to the local police station at 4:30 PM. They moved her to five or six different rooms in which they interrogated her throughout the night. Mrs. Wang was detained for more than 20 hours without charge before being released at noon on May 9.
 
Wang Dao's wife then received the criminal detention notice for her husband, issued by the Fanyu District Branch of Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau at 4:00 AM. Translation of the Criminal Detention Notice for Wang Dao (formerly Tongjiang). Prominent human rights attorney Dr. Li Baiguang was notified about the situation, and agreed to defend the case.
 
Across the city, in Guangzhou People's Park, 20 Liangren Church members met for worship on Sunday morning. As they met peacefully, a combined force of police officers, plain-clothed agents, security guards and other agents forced the group to disband in a military-style operation. As the members retreated, the law enforcers seized and damaged the cameras of onlookers who were filming the informal gathering. Mrs. Wang shared more details with her interview with Radio Free Asia that afternoon. Read the RFA Interview, May 9, 2010.
 
 
Please contact Annee@ChinaAid.org to request permission to reproduce any photos or information present in this article.

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