On the afternoon of July 3, 2024, Li Shanshan, the wife of Pastor Li Jie, and Chen Ying, the wife of Han Xiaodong from Linfen Covenant House Church, visited the Yaodu District Court in Linfen City. They sought a meeting with Judge Jia Jing to inquire about their husbands' case progress. However, court staff informed them that the judge was ill and unavailable.
Pastor Li Jie and Han Xiaodong were arrested in August 2022 for their Christian faith and have been detained for over one year and eleven months. The case has been pending in court for one year and two months without trial or release. Their wives expressed a desire to meet with Xie Binghua, deputy chief judge in charge of criminal trials at the Yaodu District Court, as well as other relevant leaders, to discuss the situation face-to-face.
Linfen Covenant House Church is an independent house church that refuses to join the Three-Self Church. The pastors had participated in signing the Declaration for the Sake of the Christian Faith initiated by Pastor Wang Yi of Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church. This involvement led to multiple police interrogations, forced relocations, and attacks on the church’s school.
On August 19, 2022, during an outdoor "family camp" activity organized by the church, more than a hundred police officers raided the venue. Pastor Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and co-worker Wang Qiang were criminally detained on suspicion of "fraud."
On March 9, 2024, Li Shanshan, Chen Ying, and Wen Huijuan—the wives of Pastor Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang—wrote an appeal letter titled “Requesting Representatives of the National People’s Congress to Pay Attention to the Case of Religious Persecution Against Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang in Linfen.” The letter called on governments and media to address these cases of religious persecution. It urged judicial organs to cease creating such cases that violate human rights and disregard facts. The letter also demanded open trials be held promptly and requested changes in coercive measures against the three Christians due to their extended detention beyond legal limits.
The appeal letter stated that Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang voluntarily donated according to biblical principles—a practice aligned with a two-thousand-year tradition within Christianity—and did not violate any national laws. The Chinese government has publicly committed through its Constitution and State Council white papers to guarantee freedom of religious belief.
The investigating agency—the Linfen City Public Security Bureau’s directly affiliated branch—allegedly committed illegal acts during case handling such as residential surveillance at designated locations and coercing victims into writing false materials under threat of arrest or job loss.
The three wives asserted: “Such unscrupulous arrests of Christians... show no justice or goodness. It is persecution against Christians in the name of law.” They firmly believe their husbands are innocent and request their prompt release.
