Crackdown on 'cults'
China has sentenced the head of what it calls a cult, to life in prison on charges including rape and fraud, state news agency Xinhua said yesterday, continuing a crackdown on what it views as dangerous illegal movements.
After a probe lasting more than a year, a court in the southern province of Guangdong on Friday sentenced Wu Zeheng, founder and leader of the Buddhist-inspired Huazang Dharma group, and fined him 7.15 million yuan ($1.13 million). The US Commission on International Religious Freedom, a bipartisan US government commission, says Wu and his followers are being persecuted for their religious beliefs.
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