A Chinese pastor, Wang Yi, and six members of his church, were on Easter Sunday arrested and detained for participating in the online service of the church.
Wang Yi, who pastors the Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan province, was conducting an online worship session when members of the Public Security Bureau stormed their homes and arrested them.
International Christian Concern quoted a member of the church as saying that she was taking part in the service through Zoom when suddenly everything became quiet.
She explained that she thought it was a network problem only to hear what looked like a quarrel involving another member of the church.
The members arrested and detained have since been freed, ICC said.
The group also said it was not the first time Early Rain Covenant Church would be so harassed.
It said it was harassed in 2018 when it spoke out against the introduction of stricter regulations for worship centres.
Wang was sentenced to nine years in jail in December 2019 for “inciting to subvert state power” and “illegal business operations.”
China ranks 23rd among 50 nations of the world where it is difficult to practise Christianity, according to Open Doors USA 2020 report.
