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More Than 400 College Students in Beijing and Hangzhou Detained and Interrogated; Four Church Leaders Sentenced to Labor Camps

http://chinaaid.org/2008/12/03/more-than-400-college-students-in-beijing-and-hangzhou-detained-and-interrogated-four-church-leaders-sentenced-to-labor-camps/

Posted Dec 03 2008

ChinaAid
Media Contact: Katherine Cason (267) 210-8278 or Katherine@ChinaAid.org
Washington, D.C. Contact: Jenny McCloy (202) 213-0506 or Jenny@ChinaAid.org
Website: www.ChinaAid.org and www.MonitorChina.org
Fax: (432) 686-8355
Photo: Decision statement for re-education through labor of Ye Xi Lou.

December 3, 2008

BEIJING and ZHEJIANG – After conducting detailed investigations, ChinaAid has confirmed that from the end of September to early November 2008, a large police force was dispatched to raid house gatherings in Beijing and in areas near college campuses in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. More than 400 Christian college students were arrested and interrogated. House church leaders who led the gatherings were detained, and four were sentenced to re-education through labor for one to one and a half years. House church members were accused of “preaching to students” and “engaging in cult activities.” The house church groups were all affiliated with the Local Church network founded by Witness Lee (1905-1997).

It is believed that this large-scale suppression by the Chinese authorities against the Christian college students in Beijing and Hangzhou is a part of the government’s efforts to limit citizens’ religious freedom after the Olympic Games. ChinaAid calls on the relevant agencies in China to stop the harassment of house church Christians, return illegally confiscated funds and personal property, and immediately release the four church leaders who have been sentenced to re-education through labor.

Click on the links below to find out more detailed information the raids in Beijing and Hangzhou.

To request permission to reproduce ChinaAid photos and/or information, please contact: Katherine@ChinaAid.org.

Read about the raid in Beijing.

Read about the raid in Hangzhou.

Read about the Local Church.

U.S. border police arrest Mexican troops

How is it even possible to "accidentally" cross over the Rio Grande? Even a "disoriented" person could never do that. Could they?

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE4A005Z20081101?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&rpc=22&sp=true

Fri Oct 31, 2008 8:42pm EDT

PHOENIX (Reuters) - U.S. border police arrested seven Mexican soldiers after they accidentally strayed over the international boundary into Arizona, authorities said.

The U.S. Border Patrol said agents encountered the troops in a Humvee a short distance north of the border near Yuma, in far west Arizona, early on Friday.

"The Border Patrol agents on scene established a dialogue with the subjects, who identified themselves as members of the Mexican military," the Border Patrol said in a news release.

"The ... agents informed them of their presence within the United States. Upon notification, the subjects were peaceably taken into custody," it added.

The soldiers, who were assigned to the 23rd Regiment Motorized Cavalry of the Mexican Army, said they had become disoriented while on patrol and had accidentally crossed the international boundary, the Border Patrol said.

After relieving them of their arms, agents took the soldiers to the San Luis, Arizona, port of entry where they were processed and repatriated to Mexico, along with their weapons and vehicle.

The incursion was the second by Mexican troops in recent months.

In August, a group of four Mexican soldiers briefly held a U.S. Border Patrol agent at gunpoint in a remote stretch of the Arizona desert after they mistakenly strayed north across the border.

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor, editing by Eric Beech)