Six members of the illegal cult Quannengshen, which literally means almighty god, admitted guilt to several charges filed against them during a court trial in China’s Hunan province last Thursday, authorities said yesterday.

The defendants, who were arrested in December, were on trial for organizing cult activities, producing preaching articles and recruiting believers in China’s Hunan province.

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According to the procuratorate of Wuling District in Changde City, pleaded guilty to a range of offenses in court. Sentencing date has not been determined as of yet but the defendants could face up to eight years in court.

Local police arrested the six men in December after receiving information that they were recruiting people in the province. Seized during the arrest where more than 150 books, 30 discs, 120 pamphlets and five computers.

The six men were arrested while meeting in one of their gathering places, the police said.

Last month, twenty-five members of the same cult were meted jail terms ranging from three and a half years to eight years for organizing and making use of the cult to undermine the implementation of Chinese laws.

The Xiji Country People’s Court in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region ruled that the 25 arrested people were members of the illegal cult Quannengshen.

The Quannengshen cult gained notoriety when six of its members took turns in beating a woman to death at a McDonalds store on 28 May in Shandong province. Authorities said the woman was beaten after she refused to divulge her contact numbers.

The suspects allegedly got angry at the woman because they failed to recruit her for the cult.

While it has just recently gotten the public’s attention, the Quannengshen cult was established in Henan Province in the 1990s, claiming that the wife of its leader was Jesus Christ resurrected.

The leader, Zhao Weishan and wife Yang Xiangbin fled to the US in September 2000 when the government started a crackdown on illegal cults.

TagsQuannengshen, China Cult, cult