The Zion Church case will hold a pretrial conference from August 10 to 11, 2026, with a public trial from August 14 to 18

On August 4, 2026, this outlet learned that the Zion Church case will hold a pretrial conference from August 10 to 11, 2026, and a public trial from August 14 to 18.

According to family members, some lawyers only recently received case files totaling 300 volumes, have not yet completed their review, and have not been given sufficient time to apply for investigations and the collection of evidence. The court set the trial dates before the pretrial conference, prompting concerns about procedural fairness and the protection of the right to defense.

In the “10·9” Zion Church case, eight pastors and co-workers of Zion Church remain detained at the First and Second Detention Centers in Beihai, Guangxi, and face the unfounded criminal charges of “fraud” and “illegal business operations.”

The case was transferred to the People’s Procuratorate of Yinhai District, Beihai City, for review and prosecution on June 18, 2026. On July 17, 2026, in less than a month, the case was suddenly indicted before the People’s Court of Yinhai District, Beihai City, without the defense lawyers’ knowledge and without giving them an opportunity to submit defense opinions.

According to the indictment, Wang Lin, Gao Yingjia, Yin Huibin, Wang Cong, Liu Zhenbin, and Lin Shucheng are accused of “jointly committing fraud,” with the indictment stating that they “conducted illegal religious activities and defrauded believers of more than 10 million yuan in ‘offerings.’”

Wang Lin, Wang Zhong, and Wu Qiuyu are accused of “jointly and intentionally committing the crime of illegal business operations,” with the indictment stating that “from 2020 to 2025, without authorization, they illegally sold ‘course packages’ containing religious and other content via information networks, collecting more than 2 million yuan in proceeds from illegal business operations.”

The indictment further alleges that “Wang Lin played a primary role in the criminal activities of fraud and illegal business operations; Gao Yingjia and Yin Huibin played primary roles in the joint criminal activity of fraud and are principal offenders; the others are accomplices.”

By including offerings, the support of pastors, and internal religious education in the church’s pastoral ministry in a criminal case, the case-handling authorities have effectively criminalized the religious activities that have long existed in China’s house churches. This is not only an open violation of the freedom of religious belief guaranteed to citizens by the Chinese Constitution. The indictment claims that there are statements from victims and witnesses. In fact, some believers were misled or even coerced by case-handling personnel, and consequently provided false testimony in a state of panic. These believers are willing to testify again, demonstrating that the church did not deceive them, nor did they suffer economic losses as a result of the church’s pastoral ministry. Moreover, the many members of Zion Church and numerous students of Zion Bible Institute can all testify that offerings are not “fraud,” and Bible training is not “illegal business operations.”