Twelve Chinese Protestants arrested last month at an unregistered church meeting have been sent to a labor camp in northern China. The Christians were sentenced without trial to between two and three years of "re-education through labor" for "illegal religious activities," according to the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
Police have the authority to administer the "re-education" sentence without trial for up to three years, and many religious leaders in China have been sent to labor camps amid the communist government's crackdown on unregistered groups.
The 12 were sentenced by police in Dongsheng, in Inner Mongolia province. They were among a group of 35 Christians arrested on May 26 during a service at a house in the northern Chinese city. The meeting reportedly was broken up by about 30 police. The others in attendance were released one day later after paying a fine. The Falun Dafa Information Center in New York says 228 people have died as a result of police torture and brutality since the crackdown on unregistered religious activities began two years ago.