Open Letter from the Families of the 18 Detained Church Workers in Beijing Zion Church’s “10·9 Case” to Comrade Yang Zhenggen, Procurator General of the People’s Procuratorate of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Other Leaders

To Comrade Yang Zhenggen, Procurator General of the People’s Procuratorate of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and other leaders：

Dear Procurator General Yang：

We are the family members of the 18 detained church workers in Beijing Zion Church’s “10·9 Case”. Today，with heavy yet hopeful hearts，we write this letter to you. As wives，husbands，children and parents，we think day and night of our loved ones from whom we have been separated for so long，and the brief news we receive after each meeting leaves us both heartbroken and grateful．

In October 2025，our loved ones——including Pastor Jin Mingri，18 pastors and church workers in all——were criminally detained for the church’s normal religious activities，and were subsequently approved for arrest on suspicion of the “crime of illegally using information networks”. The offense carries a maximum sentence of only three years，yet they have now been detained for more than 200 days．Notices informing us of multiple extensions to the investigation period have astonishingly cited the grounds that they “may be sentenced to ten years or more”. As ordinary family members，we truly find this difficult to understand and are deeply anxious．

Procurator General，you have repeatedly stressed the need to “handle every case with high quality and efficiency” and to “administer justice for the people and assume responsibility for the rule of law”. These words have given us hope．We believe that you and your colleagues at the procuratorate will, based on the facts and law，protect the lawful rights of every citizen. Our loved ones are all kind and peaceable church workers who have devoted their lives to spreading love and hope and have never done anything to harm society. Now，some of them suffer from diabetes，heart disease or high blood pressure. In the detention center，we are most worried about their physical and emotional well-being，yet we cannot accompany or care for them at all times……

As family members，the thing we do most often every day is pray for them，and also pray for you and the case-handling personnel. We hope that during these difficult days，they can feel justice and compassion；we also hope that our children can see their fathers and mothers soon，and that the elderly can see their sons and daughters soon. Family reunification is our simplest wish．

Therefore，we earnestly request：

1.  Please have your procuratorate conduct a review of the necessity of detention in this case and change the coercive measures in accordance with the law，so that our loved ones may be released on bail pending trial or released outright and return home soon．

2.  Correct the extension decisions that are inconsistent with the current charge，handle the case strictly in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Law，and restore the procedural rights to which they are entitled．

3.  Ensure normal meetings and defense by lawyers，improve the medical care and living conditions of those in detention，and allow them to feel the human warmth of the justice system．

4.  Make public information on the case’s progress，so that we family members who worry about them day and night can have a little more peace of mind．

Procurator General Yang，we fully understand that procuratorial work carries great responsibility，and we also believe that under your leadership，the Guangxi procuratorial authorities will certainly put “administering justice for the people” into practice through concrete actions. Our loved ones and our families look forward to your attention and help. Whatever the outcome，we will remember this justice and compassion with grateful hearts．

Thank you for reading this letter despite your busy schedule．We are ready at any time to provide any materials required and to maintain communication with your procuratorate through our lawyers．

Yours sincerely

Families of the 18 detained church workers in Beijing Zion Church’s “10·9 Case” / Liu Chunli, Yang Jun, Geng Pengpeng, Su Ziming, Gu Xiaoyu

Contact：hpcc109@gmail.com