BEIJING – Beijing police arrested dozens of Christian worshippers Sunday from a “house church” — one not formally recognised by the government — when they tried to pray outdoors, a rights group said.
They sang hymns and said prayers as police loaded them onto waiting buses in Beijing’s western Haidian district, the US-based Christian rights group China Aid said in a statement, citing witnesses. “The Beijing authorities have again demonstrated their total disregard of their citizens’ constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right to religious freedom,” China Aid founder and president Bob Fu said in the statement.
Police declined to comment when contacted by AFP and requested written questions be sent to them by fax.The New York Times reported that one of its photographers was among those detained, but was later released.China Aid said more than 100 were detained, but the newspaper said “dozens” of people were held.
