Ma Tao, an elder of the “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” in Fuyang, Anhui, sentenced to 1 year and 4 months, released today after completing his sentence
(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On October 28, 2026, this site learned: Ma Tao, an elder of the “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” in Fuyang, Anhui, who was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months, was released today after completing his sentence and has returned home.
Ma Tao’s biography: Born July 20, 1984; birth name Ma Shutao; from Yingshang County, Anhui Province; a resident of Nanzhao Town, Yingshang County; Christian; elder of the “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” in Fuyang, Anhui; victim of religious persecution; prisoner of conscience in China.
Kind and warmhearted, he became a Christian preacher early on and took part in ministry at the Wheat Seed Reformed house church in Fuyang, Anhui, because of his devout faith in Jesus Christ; however, because his church upheld the house-church position in its beliefs and openly refused to join the “Three-Self” church controlled by the Chinese Communist government, the authorities placed him under stability-maintenance surveillance; at the end of August 2021, the church where he worshipped was raided for the first time by police from Yingzhou District, Fuyang, and was later shut down by the local Civil Affairs Bureau on the grounds that it had “engaged in activities in the name of a social organization without registration.” Despite this, he and the church’s other pastors and believers continued to meet discreetly and with difficulty, undeterred by the risks; as a result, the church’s pastors, several fellow workers, and core believers were often arrested and repressed by the authorities; on June 29, 2025, while his church and the Covenant Hall preaching station were holding worship services, local police raided them again, and several church groups were forced to stop meeting. He, Pastor Chang Shun, and 17 other pastors and believers (including four children) were taken away together on suspicion of “illegal gatherings”; the following day (June 30), most were gradually released, but he and Pastor Chang Shun were placed under criminal detention on suspicion of “organizing illegal assemblies”; on August 6 of the same year, the Fuyang Procuratorate formally approved the arrest of the two on the same charge; Pastor Zhang Sen of their church was also arrested at the same time, and his case was joined with theirs; by October 22, it was learned that police had transferred the cases against the three men to the Yingzhou District Procuratorate of Fuyang for review and prosecution on the charge of “organizing illegal assemblies”; on March 21, 2026, the Yingzhou District Procuratorate of Fuyang formally indicted him; the indictment accused him, Zhang Sen, and Chang Shun of repeatedly holding “illegal gatherings” as elders and pastors and allowing children to participate in worship activities. In particular, it alleged that he had organized many “illegal gatherings” in the name of the “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” in Yingzhou District, Bengbu City, and in Yingshang County on October 16, 2021; October 21, 2023; in January 2024; and from March to June 2025, involving several minors; it also alleged that the pastors had their own children receive religiously oriented teaching and instruction, and therefore characterized their conduct as “disrupting public order,” with serious circumstances and in violation of relevant provisions of the Criminal Law, and brought charges against them; from June 9 to 12, 2026, the case against the three was heard at that court, but no verdict was issued after a lengthy delay in the proceedings; on August 10, the Yingzhou District Court in Fuyang finally sentenced the three in their case on the charge of “organizing illegal assemblies.” He was sentenced to 1 year and 4 months in prison, with his sentence ending on October 28, 2026; the other two pastors, Zhang Sen and Chang Shun, were sentenced to 1 year and 7 months and 1 year and 6 months, respectively. He had previously been held at the Fuyang Detention Center (Lukan Road, Yingquan District, Fuyang, Anhui Province; postal code: 236050).
Source
- Outlet
- 维权信息中心报告
- Original report
- https://wqw2010.blogspot.com/2026/10/14_0328029080.html
- Original publication
- Oct 28, 2026
- Retrieved
- Oct 28, 2026
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