A Hong Kong man is facing the death penalty on the mainland after allegedly smuggling thousands of Bibles across the border to supply a banned Christian sect.
Businessman Lai Kwong-keung, 38, and two other members of the 'Shouters' group - so called as members shout their devotion to Jesus Christ - will stand trial in the Fuqing intermediate court in Fujian province this week, said Frank Lu Siqing, of the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.
The Hong Kong Security Bureau confirmed yesterday it had received requests for help from Lai's family in Hong Kong, and immigration officials had conveyed the family's concerns to mainland authorities.
Mr Lu said Lai and his co-accused faced the charge of 'using an evil cult to undermine law enforcement' and conviction could carry the death penalty.
He said a court in Hubei province last month sentenced to death the two founders of another underground Christian group, the South China Church.
The centre said Lai had been a committed Christian for more than 10 years. He belongs to an SAR-based Christian group, 'The Church in Hong Kong'.
A spokesman for the 600-member Hong Kong church said yesterday that Lai had been a member for only a few months. The spokesman added his trip was not sanctioned by them and they had no links with the Shouters. The centre said the Shouters was among the fastest-spreading underground churches in China, with reportedly 500,000 adherents.