Chinese cops raid home in hunt for human-rights defender

The international Christian human rights group China Aid reports police are searching for a human rights lawyer who recently was released from a secret prison.

The mother of Zhang Kai, a renowned human rights lawyer from Inner Mongolia, said this week that police surrounded her home and attempted to seize her son.

The situation had developed over months.

Zhang, as a lawyer, had been legitimately representing dozens of churches being damaged by an ongoing demolition campaign in Zhejiang province. Authorities then charged him with "gathering a crowd to disturb public order" and "stealing, spying, buying and illegally providing state secrets and intelligence to entities outside of China."

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He was held incommunicado in an unofficial prison – a "black jail" – for months.

Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea have collaborated to create “Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians,” which confirms that groups like Pew Research, Newsweek and The Economist also identify Christians as “the world’s most widely persecuted religious group.”

"In an attempt to maintain the pretense that the Chinese government justly punishes human rights activists, officials forced Zhang to attend the Aug. 4 trial of lawyer Zhou Shifeng, after which he was pressured into condoning the government's treatment of human rights lawyers in an interview," the organization reported.

Then, on Wednesday, he posted a message on WeChat, a popular social media service, "refuting his statements, requesting the forgiveness of the lawyers' family members and explaining that he had been under great duress after experiencing a six-month detention that was 'all black and no daylight,'" the report said.

"Zhang Kai confirmed that he published the message during a phone call with a China Aid reporter," the group said, "but stated it was 'inconvenient' for him to receive interviews at this time.

Then, China Aid said, his mother reported via social media that police arrived at her home and tried to take Zhang into custody.

There were no further details on his status.

China Aid says it exposes abuses human rights and religious freedom abuses, such as cases like Kai's, to protect the right of Chinese Christians to practice their faith."

Paul Marshall, Lela Gilbert and Nina Shea have collaborated to create “Persecuted: The Global Assault on Christians,” which confirms that groups like Pew Research, Newsweek and The Economist also identify Christians as “the world’s most widely persecuted religious group.”