A Chinese court sentenced a Protestant minister, his wife and her brother to prison terms of up to three years on Tuesday for illegally printing Bibles and other Christian publications, one of their lawyers said.
The conviction of house church minister Cai Zhuohua, 34, and his family by the Beijing People's Intermediate Court came days before US President George W. Bush arrives for a visit.
In atheist China, printing of Bibles and other religious publications needs approval from the State Bureau of Religious Affairs. Bibles cannot be openly bought at bookshops in a country long criticised overseas for intolerance of religion.
Cai, arrested in September last year, was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of "illegal business practices" after pleading not guilty, lawyer Zhang Xingshui said by telephone.
His 33-year-old wife, Xiao Yunfei, was given a two-year prison sentence and her brother, Xiao Gaowen, 37, an 18-month term, the lawyer said. Both were convicted on similar charges.
They were expected to appeal and have 10 days to do so.
Court officials reached by telephone declined to comment.
Cai's mother defended her son but said she was neither sad nor incensed. "The prosecution could not find a witness to testify that my son received any money," Cai Laiyi, 61, told Reuters after attending the sentencing.
"But I'm not sad or angry because this is God's arrangement," said Cai's mother, who is looking after his five-year-old son.
The court fined minister Cai 200,000 yuan ($25,000), his wife 150,000 yuan and her brother 100,000 yuan.
The defendants were calm when they appeared in court wearing handcuffs and orange prison uniforms.
A fourth defendant, Hu Jinyun, Xiao Gaowen's wife, was exempted from criminal punishment on charges of "secretly storing illegal goods" because she made contributions by informing against her sister-in-law, the lawyer said, quoting the verdict. Eight lawyers and legal experts had offered their services to the defendants free of charge.
An official Web site says China has 4 million Catholics and 10 million Protestants, but the actual figures are believed to be much larger.
China refuses to allow the Vatican to appoint bishops in China and refuses to allow Catholics to recognise the authority of the Pope. Instead, Chinese Catholics must belong to a state-backed church known as the Patriotic Catholic Association.