Chinese court sentences five members of 'cult' group to jail
Court said they propagated the cult and recruited believers and spread rumours
Beijing: A Chinese court on Saturday sentenced five members of a ‘cult’ group called 'Church of Almighty God' to varied prison terms for spreading its philosophy in China.
The defendants, who live in the city of Panjin, were found guilty of undermining the implementation of laws by making use of cult organisations, the Intermediate People's Court in Panjin in Liaoning Province said.
The court said the five persons propagated the cult known in Chinese as 'Quannengshen', recruited believers and spread rumours. Hundreds of video discs and books promoting the cult were found in their possession.
The accused were given two to three year jail sentences, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Quannengshen grabbed national headlines last year with videos going viral showing five of its members beating a woman to death at a McDonald restaurant in the eastern city of
Zhaoyuan, condemning her as an "evil spirit" after she refused to give them her phone number for recruitment purposes.