Shi Weihan

Update February 14, 2011

VOM received word that Chinese prisoner Shi Weihan was released Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2011 from the Haidian Detention Center outside Beijing. He completed his prison sentence. Shi Weihan was convicted in June 2009 based on evidence he had printed Bibles and other Christian literature for free distribution to poor believers in rural China.

Prisoner Details

On June 10, a Chinese court sentenced Christian bookstore owner, Shi Weihan, 38, to three years in prison for “illegal business operations,” and imposed a US$21,975 fine, according to China Aid Association.

Shi Weihan operated a legal bookstore and only sold books with the government’s approval. His Holy Spirit Trading Company printed Bibles and Christian literature and distributed then freely to local house churches.

Weihan was arrested in November 2007 for printing and distributing Bibles and other Christian literature. He was released in January 2008 due to insufficient evidence, but was arrested again in March and held indefinitely. China Aid reported his sentence will run from November 2007 to November 2010. Believers hope that Weihan could appeal his sentence because of medical reasons. While in prison his diabetic condition worsened.