Christian sect leader executed
30 November 2006
The founder of the Three Grades of Servants Church, a secretive Protestant sect which once claimed over a million followers in China, has been executed. Xu Shuangfu and at least 11 of his subordinates were put to death for ordering the murder of members a rival religious group in 2002. Xu's lawyer, Li Heping told the International Herald Tribune that he and Xu's family members learned of his death on Wednesday. Li does not deny that some people were murdered but said the state's case against Xu was deeply flawed and based entirely on the confessions of fellow sect members that were tortured to admit to crimes and implicate Xu.