A house church leader and 30 members have been jailed in central China, in what has been described by a human rights watchdog as “one of the largest coordinated prosecutions of Christians in recent years”.

China Aid reports that authorities accused members of “using a cult organization to undermine the implementation of the law” for taking part in fellowship activities and clergy training, as part of a crackdown on unregistered churches.

Trials in Suizhou, Hubei Province, were tightly guarded with believers split up into cases with only one or two defendants. It is believed verdicts were issued on 22 May. 

House church leader Song Yude was given the longest prison sentence of four years, with the shortest being two years and four months.

Yang Zhijin, a 77 year-old believer, was jailed for more than three years for helping detained Christians secure and pay for lawyers. Prosecutors quoted Christian beliefs, that “faith in Jesus leads to heaven” and that “everyone is sinful and must confess and repent”, as being evidence for his criminal conduct, according to the non-profit. 

The judgement stated the church was part of a larger network of underground communities taking part in “criminal activity”. It cited teams that cared for members, preaching groups that arranged sermons, and its young adults ministry that could introduce unmarried Christians to each other as justification.

Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, said: “These are innocent Christians, not criminals. They are peaceful house church members who exercised their universally recognised rights to freedom of religion, worship, assembly, and association.

“The Chinese Communist Party continues to weaponise the legal system to persecute peaceful believers. Their only ‘crime’ is worshipping God outside government control”, Fu added.