Press Release - August 17, 1995

Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A. - Mr. Sun Guofu of Handan North Zhang Village of Hebei Province was arrested on February 23, 1995 at his home by the Chinese Government.

The reason for Mr. Sun's arrest was that he organized a retreat for the Roman Catholic laity and listened to the catechism audio tape.

At the time of Mr. Sun's arrest, the Chinese security personnel took away his black and while television set, a memorial card for the late Bishop Peter Joseph Fan Xueyan Who was tortured to death in jail on April 13, 1992, his prayer book and other spiritual books.

Mr. Sun was badly tortured. When he passed out, he was put outside in the cold weather and was not allowed to drink any liquid for three days. He has now been jailed for almost six months.

The family of Mr. Sun has now been informed by the Security Bureau that in order to release Mr. Sun, he must have a banquet, inviting appropriate security personnel and pay a fine of Chinese Yen $ 5,000 (US $ 625) which is equivalent to almost 2 1/2 years of a villager's income.

As there is no way that Mr. Sun can raise this sum of money for the fine and pay for the banquet, he remains in Jail.