Recently, a defense lawyer entrusted by Elder Zhang Chunlei’s family applied for bail pending trial for him, who suffers from liver cirrhosis in the detention center. The application was rejected by the Guiyang Intermediate People’s Court. The detention center has also not arranged a physical examination for him recently. Regarding this, Zhang Chunlei’s family is very worried.
Elder Zhang Chunlei has been detained for more than three years and three months on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and “fraud.” Elder Zhang Chunlei stated that he disagreed with some religious policies, especially the banning of churches and the arrest of Christians, but he absolutely did not have the motive to incite subversion of state power. As for the fraud charge, none of the so-called “victims” in this case reported to the police or appeared in court, and no one asked the church or Elder Chunlei to return the tithe offering money, which is sufficient to show that this charge was artificially imposed.
Regarding the church, relevant law enforcement personnel openly banned it in front of the congregation, and Elder Chunlei never thought about concealing it and it was impossible to do so. Some investigating police officers also said that this should not constitute fraud.
The time when Elder Zhang Chunlei was diagnosed with liver cirrhosis was at the end of 2023. At that time, he was hospitalized for more than a month due to cholecystitis and other diseases and received intravenous infusions for more than 20 days. Liver cirrhosis was already diagnosed at that time, but lawyers and family members were not aware of it.
In early May of this year, the defense lawyer visited Elder Zhang Chunlei at the Guiyang City Detention Center. At that time, Elder Zhang Chunlei appeared slightly thin and his hair was completely white. But at that time, the lawyer did not know that Elder Zhang Chunlei had already been diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. Elder Zhang Chunlei currently has high blood pressure. It is reported that liver cirrhosis is a disease very prone to complications and can even endanger life expectancy. Zhang Chunlei’s wife, Yang Aiqing, said that before his imprisonment, he had no record of liver diseases.
On Sunday, May 12, 2019, the Guiyang Ren’ai Reformed Church led by Elder Zhang Chunlei was banned by the local government. On March 16, 2021, the church was raided and many Christians were arrested and their homes were searched. That evening, Elder Zhang Chunlei went to the police station to find out the situation and was immediately detained; then he was administratively detained and subsequently criminally detained. After his criminal detention expired, he was formally arrested on suspicion of “fraud.”
On January 27, 2022, Elder Zhang Chunlei was prosecuted on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and “fraud.” On November 29, 2022, the case was not publicly tried in Guiyang Intermediate People’s Court. According to reports on trial day none of "witnesses" or "victims" were given an opportunity to appear in court. More than one year and seven months have passed since then without a verdict.
Regarding rejection of bail application pending trial: "Elder Chunlei hopes his family will not worry," saying "everything has Lord's good intentions."
