安徽淮北教会领袖陈士信被判刑三年



4/19/2018

蔡里村家庭教会领袖陈士信
(图:对华援助协会)

(安徽-2018年3月19日)安徽淮北市蔡里村一家庭教会领袖陈士信,被控“故意损坏财物罪”一案,本周一(4月16日)被当局判处三年有期徒刑。陈士信的家人本周三才得知判刑结果。周四,陈士信家属委托的律师到看守所会见当事人后得知,陈已放弃上诉称等出狱后再决定。

淮北市烈山镇蔡里村家庭教会领袖陈士信,因林地纠纷去年4月被捕,后被当地检察院以“故意毁坏财物罪”提起公诉。该案经过去年12月及今年3月在淮北市杜集区法院两次开庭。近期,法院在未通知家人的情况下开庭。陈士信的妻子王红,本周四(4月19日)上午告诉记者:“我们是在昨天(18日)下午接到律师的通知,说判决书下来了,陈士信被判刑三年,法院邮寄给他的判决书。律师的辩护意见,法院都不予采纳”。

当天下午,王红再次告诉记者,他委托一位律师到看守所见到陈士信:“我们今天找了淮北一位律师去见了陈士信,询问陈被判刑的情况。据律师说,陈士信是在本月16日(星期一)被带到法院宣判,当时审判长称,他可被判三至七年,判他三年属量刑最轻,希望他别再找事。审判长还称即使上诉也维持原判”。

陈士信已向律师表示,他不会上诉。王红对此表示:“陈士信说,他不想因为上诉,再给教会和家庭,造成精神压力。他说一切等他出狱后再做打算”。

法院的判决书,指被告人陈士信在该市烈山区和杜集区交界处附近沙峪子山场种植中药材,伙同另外两人多次雇佣挖掘机毁坏该山场李文前等人承包后种植的石榴树、杏树、梧桐树等林木3307株,折合人民币近20万元。而陈士信的代理律师,早前在法庭上对控方提供毁坏林木的鉴定报告提出质疑,并要求重新鉴定林木的数量和树种,但法院不予采纳。

律师认为,控方提出的指控陈士信的两份鉴定意见,违反了刑事诉讼法和公安机关鉴定规则的有关规定,在缺乏真实客观检测前提下,进行司法鉴定,结论不具客观性的不辩护意见,法院应不予采纳。另外,在鉴定意见通知书上没有送达人签名,送达程序违法。

陈士信牧师带领的蔡里村教会有三百多名信徒,当地宗教局官员和公安曾多次要求该教会加入三自教会,但被拒绝。教会在山上的聚会处外墙上挂出的十字架,曾遭当局强行要求移除。去年4月12日陈士信牧师被当地公安局刑事拘留,一个月后被以“涉嫌故意毁坏财物罪”批捕。去年11月29日该案一审首次开庭。今年3月9日第二次开庭。

对华援助协会特约记者乔农报道

英文翻译
Chen Shixin, leader of a house church in Huaibei, Anhui, was sentenced three years in prison

(Anhui-2018-3-19)Chen Shixin, leader of a house church in Caili Village, Huaibei, Anhui Province, was accused of "intentionally damaging private properties" and sentenced three years in prison on this Monday (April 16th). Chen Shixin's family members received the verdict on Wednesday. On Thursday, the lawyer commissioned by Chen's family members visited him in prison and came to know that Chen would not appeal, instead, he decided to make decisions after being released.

Chen Shixin was the leader of a house church in Caili Village, Lieshan Town, Huaibei. He was arrested in last April for a dispute over a woodland. The local procuratorate accused him of "intentionally damaging properties." The Court of Duji District, Huaibei held two court sessions for the case in last December and this March, conducting the trials without informing the family members. On Thursday (April 19th), Chen Shixin's wife Wang Hong told the reporter during morning: "We received the lawyer's notification yesterday afternoon (18th). The court mailed the verdict to him. The court did not approve any of the lawyer's defenses."

During the afternoon, Wang Hong told the reporter that the lawyer she commissioned visited Chen Shixin at the detention center. "We hired a lawyer in Huaibei, and he visited Chen Shixin and asked about the trials. According to the lawyer, the court announced its decision on 16th (Monday). The residing judge claimed that the punishment ranges from three years to seven years for his case, and the court was being lenient sentencing him three years in prison. The court warned him not to cause more troubles."

Chen Shixin told the lawyer that he did not plan to appeal. Wang Hong said: "Chen Shixin said that he did not want to cause more pressure for his family and the church. He said that he would sort things out after being released."

According to the verdict, Chen Shixin and two accomplices planted Chinese herbs at the Shayuzi mountain field near the intersection of Lieshan District and Duji District and hired bulldozers to damage 3307 pomegranate trees, apricot trees and sycamore trees that belonged to Li Wenqian; the trees worthed 200,000 yuan.  Chen Shixin's representative lawyer questioned the identification report of the damaged trees presented by the prosecutors and demanded another evaluation, but the court turned down his request.

The lawyer believed that the two reports presented by the prosecutors violated the relevant regulations in the Criminal Procedure Law and rules of the public security department. The procuratorate conducted the evaluation without proper investigation, therefore the court should not use the legally invalid reports as an evidence against Chen Shixin. Besides, the process server did not sign on the identification report, so the delivery of the documents was illegal.

Chen Shixin's Caili Church had more than three hundred members. The local bureau of religious affairs and bureau of public security had repeatedly demanded the church to join the official Three-self Church, but the church refused to comply. The government forcibly removed the cross that the church displayed on the outer wall of the gathering point in the mountain. On last April 12th, the local public security bureau criminally detained Chen Shixin and formally arrested him a month later with the accusation of "intentionally damaging private properties." The first instance trial of his case was held on last November 29th. The second court session was held on March 9th.

China Aid Association Special Correspondent Qiao Nong