On June 20, 2025, according to information obtained, several members of the Golden Lampstand Church in Linfen City, Shanxi Province, were heavily sentenced on fraud charges. Among them, Brother Li Shuangping received a prison sentence of nine years and two months. Some church members who had dismissed their Christian defense attorneys at the authorities’ request and hired local lawyers, were still sentenced to over five years in prison merely for refusing to plead guilty in court.
Deputy Presiding Judge Xie Binghua had previously visited the detention center multiple times, pressuring church members to dismiss their Christian attorneys and pushing forward the trial of Yang Rongli and Wang Xiaoguang.
Another local congregation, the Covenant Home Church, also received sentencing on the same day. Li Jie and Han Xiaodong were each sentenced to three years and eight months in prison, exceeding the three-year term that had been informally agreed upon by the prosecution, defense, and the court during the trial. The church members’ restraint during the proceedings was met with harsh sentences for their preachers, exposing the authorities’ utter lack of integrity. During the trial, alleged victims were abducted by a group of men in black right outside the Yaodu District Court and dragged into a vehicle, in plain view of court police. Yet all judicial personnel turned a blind eye.
According to legal procedures, sentencing should be conducted in open court, with both defendants and their lawyers present. In this case, however, sentencing took place separately at the court and the detention center, and lawyers were not allowed to be present at the detention center hearings.
The following are the known sentencing results for ten members of the Golden Lampstand Church:
1. Li Shuangping: Charged with fraud and sentenced to 9 years and 2 months in prison, with a fine of RMB 100,000.
(Sentence from August 22, 2021, to October 21, 2030.)
2. Li Qin: Charged with fraud and sentenced to 5 years and 7 months in prison, with a fine of RMB 50,000.
(Released on bail on October 20, 2021; exact sentence end date pending calculation.)
3. Huo Zhuangping: Charged with fraud and sentenced to 5 years and 5 months in prison, with a fine of RMB 50,000.
(Sentence from October 1, 2021, to February 28, 2027.)
4. Zhao Guo’ai: Charged with fraud and sentenced to 5 years and 4 months in prison, with a fine of RMB 50,000.
(Sentence from August 22, 2021, to December 21, 2026.)
5. Feng Junying: Charged with fraud and sentenced to 4 years and 10 months in prison, with a fine of RMB 40,000.
(Li Qin was released on bail on November 25, 2021; exact sentence end date pending calculation.
Note: “Li Qin” is likely a mistaken reference to Feng Junying.)
6. Dong Yongyong: Charged with fraud and sentenced to 3 years and 11 months in prison, with a fine of RMB 40,000.
(Sentence from August 23, 2021, to July 22, 2025.)
7. Yang Hongzhen: Charged with fraud, sentenced to 2 years and 9 months with a 3-year probation, and fined RMB 30,000.
( Released on bail on November 25, 2021; probation period starts from the date of sentence confirmation.)
8. Wang Xianfeng: Charged with fraud, sentenced to 2 years and 6 months with a 3-year probation, and fined RMB 20,000.
(Released on bail on November 22, 2021; probation period starts from the date of sentence confirmation.)
9. Chen Qinglan: Charged with fraud, sentenced to 2 years and 2 months with a 2.5-year probation, and fined RMB 20,000.
(Released on bail on November 2, 2021; probation period starts from the date of sentence confirmation.)
10. Wu Ling’e: Charged with fraud, sentenced to 1 year and 10 months with a 2-year probation, and fined RMB 3,000.
(Released on bail on November 22, 2023; probation period starts from the date of sentence confirmation.)
Source: Weiquanwang
