testifying party

Testimony 1: Official court document, as used in court proceedings in the People's Republic of China.

Testimony 2: Official letter of complaint, as written to report or appeal with regard to legal/procedural violations. (lawyer)

Testimony 3: Rights Protection Network (维权网), a Chinese blog covering rights abuses in China.

Testimony 4: Official indictment, issued by a procuratorate and charging a given person(s) with an offense. Testimony 1: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 2: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 3: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 4: father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband direct third-party
Testimony 5: add father daughter brother sister son mother grandfather grandmother grandson granddaughter uncle aunt nephew niece brother-in-law sister-in-law father-in-law mother-in-law son-in-law daughter-in-law cousin friend colleague former student relative relation unclear from same town/region n/a husband wife the victim lawyer child friends, family, and students great-nephew great-niece former schoolmate cousin once removed friend of relative boyfriend girlfriend friend of friend aunt-in-law acquaintance judge cousin-in-law nephew-in-law niece-in-law uncle-in-law former neighbor stepbrother stepsister stepfather stepmother stepdaughter stepson neighbor of relative detained together former teacher relative of friend relative of teacher sibling grandchild cousin twice removed trial attendee ex-wife great-uncle great-aunt in-law grandmother-in-law grandfather-in-law great-grandmother great-grandfather half-brother half-sister ex-husband add add direct third-party

Update 

Name:    Description:    unverified verified    1 2 3 4 5    Add

about the victim

Shi Xianhe is a Jehovah's Witness.

Testimony 4:

Shi Xianhe has a junior high school education.

- His birthplace is recorded as: Fan County, Henan province.
- His hukou is recorded as: 174 Jianshe Road, Tahaqi Village, Heshuo County, Xinjiang.
- His current address is recorded as: Jinmeng court Ste. 6 2-602, Korla, Xinjiang.

current location

[Presumably at the Korla City Detention Center (库尔勒市看守所).]

chronology of detention(s)

Testimony 4: Shi Xianhe was "put under criminal detention" by the Korla Police Department on 22 September 2018 "on a charge of inciting to obstruct law enforcement by organizing and using an evil religious organization." The following month, on 26 October 2018, the Korla Police Department received approval from the Korla People's Court to officially arrest Shi Xianhe. The official arrest was then executed by the Korla Police Department on 27 October 2018 [the next day].

The victim was indicted on 15 April 2019 by the People's Procuratorate of Korla City along with 17 other Jehovah's Witnesses "on suspicion of organizing and using a 'xie jiao' organization to undermine law enforcement."

The victim was reportedly sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison and a fine of 15,000RMB on 13 June 2020 by the Korla City People's Court. [One of the reports from Bitter Winter says that the sentencing happened on 30 June 2020, but this appears to be a mistake, judging from the photograph of the court document included in the first report.]

The sentence was offset by time already spent in custody, so the period for which the victim is to be imprisoned is 21 September 2018 to 20 March 2021.

Testimony 4: From the residence of Shi Xianhe (11415), police reportedly confiscated "two books, two programs of the 2018 Jehovah's Witnesses Regional Conference, one notebook, one card, three best-wishes papers, one hand-written note, one white iPad, one card reader, one golden iPhone, and two thumb drives."

suspected and/or official reason(s) for detention

The victim was initially arrested for "evangelism" but later indicted "on suspicion of organizing and using a 'xie jiao' organization to undermine law enforcement".

The victim was ultimately convicted of "organizing and using a 'xie jiao' organization to undermine law enforcement" and sentenced (see above).

Testimony 4:

- In July 2015, Shi Xianhe (11415) allegedly attended a regional conference hosted by Jehovah's Witnesses at the Hong Kong branch [of the organisation] together with Lin Zaiwu (11400), Yang Xianhua [wife of Lin Zaiwu (11400)], Yang Ming [his wife], Zhang Kai [identity unclear], Hu Ping [identity unclear] and other unspecified individuals, allegedly "receiving advanced-level training in an attempt to expand their organisation."
- Shi Xianhe (11415) was reportedly one of the Bible students of Lin Zaiwu (11400) and Yang Xianhua.
- The home of Shi Xianhe (11415) was among a number of venues allegedly utilised by Li Yifan (11401) and Jiang Jinling (11408) as a venue for one or more Jehovah's Witness gatherings.
- Between July 2013 and September 2018, Shi Xianhe (11415) allegedly attended Jehovah's Witness gatherings "more than 300 times", allowed his residence to be used by the sign language group, introduced Fan Tao (11410) to Li Bin [identity unclear], whom Fan Tao (11410) then recruited as a Bible student.
- Shi Xianhe (11415) and Huang Lili (11412) allegedly preached the Jehovah's Witness religion in sign language during gatherings; the indictment specifically alleges that they "required members to rigorously follow the rules of the religion, obey the doctrine of 'Jehovah's Witnesses,' not serve in the military, not sing the national anthem, not join the Chinese Communist Party or Communist Youth League, not participate in elections as either candidates or voters, not celebrate Chinese traditional holidays," and "prohibited [members] from transfusing and giving blood."
- In August 2018, Shi Xianhe (11415) and Yang Ming [his wife] allegedly attended the Jehovah's Witness Hong Kong branch conference under the instruction of Huang Lili (11412), "received training" and became missionaries. The indictment additionally alleges that Shi Xianhe (11415) and Yang Ming attended the Hong Kong regional conference a total of four times, but it does not specify the dates of the other three times.
- Shi Xianhe (11415) allegedly violated "Articles 300 and 25 of the People's Republic of China Criminal Law."

last reported status

Sentenced.

how testifier(s) learned of victim's situation

Testimony 1+4: this an official document from the Xinjiang court system.

Testimony 2: the lawyers who wrote the complaint are presumably directly involved with the case.

Testimony 3: not stated.

additional information

Bitter Winter summaries:
https://bitterwinter.org/18-jehovahs-witnesses-sentenced-to-years-in-jail-in-xinjiang/
https://bitterwinter.org/the-xinjiang-decision-against-18-jehovahs-witnesses-english-translation/

The Weiquanwang (Rights Protection Network Information Center) reported that on 14 February 2020 (Testimony 3, https://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2020/02/blog-post_26.html), most of the 18 Jehovah's Witnesses who were detained were subjected to various forms of physical punishment and mistreatment, such as being forced to wear "conjoined handcuffs" and "hug handcuffs" (where handcuffs are linked to shackles with a short chain, attached to a 5kg block). The victim is likely to have been one of those who underwent this mistreatment.

Several defence lawyers wrote a joint letter to the People's Procuratorate of Korla City in regard to the aforementioned mistreatment.

The aforementioned "conjoined handcuffs" and "hug handcuffs" were reportedly kept locked for 24 hours a day, including when the detainees were going to the toilet, eating, washing and "brushing" [it is unclear what the latter means]. Those who were handcuffed could reportedly only walk with their waists bent. Xu Yanli (one of the detainees) reportedly remarked that the detainees would sometimes have to crawl on all fours "like a dog" [presumably as a result of the "hug handcuffs"].

The 18 detainees were reportedly forced to sing songs.

The presiding judge for the trial on 13 June 2020 was Xu, Ruijiang. The other judges were Wang, Laiyou and Yu, Meiling. The secretary at the trial was 书记员米克热巴 [transliteration uncertain, likely an Uyghur name].

The indictment and trial were the first time that Article 300 of the Chinese Criminal Code was applied to Jehovah's Witnesses, despite the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses are reportedly not included in the official list of 'xie jiao'.

places of detention

Korla City Detention Center

supplementary materials

entry created on: 2020-08-18

entry last modified on: 2021-03-18

last update from testifier(s): 2020-06-13