Chinese Christian Pastor Jailed For 12 Years

A Chinese Christian pastor has been jailed for 12 years in a case which campaigners believe is more evidence of a bid to stifle religious worship in China.

Zhang Shaojie, the pastor of Nanle County Church in Henan Province, was charged with "gathering crowds to disturb public order" and "fraud" after a secret detention spanning seven months.

The sentence was handed down at a court in Henan Province on Friday morning, according to his lawyer Zhang Xinyun, who said that the pastor also received a fine of £10,000.

Pastor Zhang was detained by authorities in November last year with 23 members of his congregation. They were held at an undisclosed location and without access to lawyers.

His family has told Sky News that the charges have been fabricated by the local authorities who are concerned by the growing influence of the church in the area.

They claim that trouble began after local Communist Party officials illegally seized land owned by the church. The arrests followed a public campaign against the local authorities led by Pastor Zhang.

Xia Jun, a lawyer involved with the case, said Pastor Zhang would appeal.

"It is a very wrongful sentence, we are preparing to appeal." Mr Xia told Sky News.

"[For] Pastor Zhang they have no basis to charge him with these sentences," he said.

In December, Sky News travelled to Nanle to investigate the case .

After a brief meeting with lawyers who were trying to gain access to the pastor, our team was attacked by a mob who the lawyers claimed were hired by the local government.

It was a claim we were unable to verify because we were swiftly and forcibly escorted out of the town and the county by the authorities.

Before being thrown out of the town we did manage a brief meeting with Pastor Zhang's daughter. Zhang Yunyun explained the circumstances of his detention.

"My father went to work (in the church) as usual, it was a Saturday. Suddenly a dozen police came, they forcefully took my father away," she said.

She described how they tied up her father and took him away with the other parishioners.

Reacting to his sentence on Friday, another of Pastor Zhang's daughters spoke to Sky News by phone from Nanle.

"Of course, we are not admitting [he committed] these crimes but even so this is not a result we were expecting. It is very unfair," she said.

She said that there was a heavy police presence in the town while the sentence was handed down.

She also claimed that the family have been given no access to the pastor since he was detained in November. She and her mother were permitted access to the court for the first time at his sentencing.

"This verdict is totally unacceptable. The so-called core evidence was collected illegally based on forced confession," said Rev. Bob Fu, a Christian activist now based in the US.

"This case shows the Chinese government continues to cover up religious persecution with fabricated criminal charges against an innocent church leader," Rev Fu told Sky News.

Sky News' attempts to reach the authorities in Nanle for comment have so far proved unsuccessful.