Chinese authorities impose fines on 3 pastors and freeze bank account of house church
The bank account of Huoshi Church in the Chinese province of Guizhou has been frozen by local authorities. Three of its pastors have also been ordered to pay a fine amounting to $32,500.
The three pastors, Su Tianfu, Liang Xuewu and Zhang Xiuhong, were notified by the executive board of Nanming District Court that they must pay a 100,000 Yuan fine and another 110,000 Yuan penal sum. The penalty was issued for the administration of the Urban and Rural Construction Executive Punishment case that was filed against the pastors.
They were all told to pay the fine within three days upon receiving the notice even as Zhang is currently in jail.
Su went to the district court on Sept. 19 to tell the judge that he is unable to pay the fine.
"The court asked me to pay more than 200,000 Yuan (U.S. $29,500) in three days yet they are asking me why I am unable to pay for it. I told the judge that our 500,000-600,000 Yuan (U.S. $73,800-$88,600) deposit in the bank was frozen by the police last year," Su told China Aid.
He said that another 200,000 Yuan had been frozen by the court.
"The court does not know how to deal with this either. The order of the court will come into effect only after the police station unfreezes the bank account," he continued.
Zhang, the chairman of the executive board of Huoshi Church, was charged with "illegal business operations" and detained in late July 2015. The authorities reportedly froze the church's bank account containing 600,000 Yuan so that it could not repay its property loan to the bank on time.
Su said that he cannot even pay for his own living expenses and he has no source of income since the church was closed down.
"I think that the fine is too steep. It is absolutely unprecedented in the country. We are the first and only church to be fined so heavily," he said.
Huoshi church was the largest house church in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou. Pastor Yang Hua, one of its founders, has been in detention since Dec. 9, 2015.
