Priest Held in China Since 1989 Is Freed
China has released a Roman Catholic priest imprisoned since a 1989 army raid on a religious service, Hong Kong-based human rights activist John Kamm said Saturday.
Authorities freed on parole Placidus Pei Ronggui, 59, from a labor camp in northeastern Hebei province on Wednesday, Kamm said.
The clergyman, whose loyalty to the Vatican ran afoul of the Beijing government, which considers only the state-run church legal, was arrested in July, 1989, and sentenced to a five-year jail term in September of that year.
Last month, China released up to 18 Roman Catholics from jail, apparently in an attempt to boost its bid to host the 2000 Olympics.
In July, 1989, soldiers attacked Youtong village in Hebei where an underground Catholic service was held. Two villagers were killed and several hundred injured in the raid.
Kamm said in a statement that Pei’s release means that all Catholic leaders detained in connection with the incident are now believed to have been released.
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