MARCH 25, 15:38 EST
Laos Sentences Laotian Christians
BANGKOK, Thailand (AP) -- A court in Laos on Wednesday sentenced a group of Laotian Christians arrested at a Bible study meeting two months ago.
The 13 defendants were part of a gathering of 44 people, including three U.S. citizens, arrested at a private residence Jan. 30 in the capital, Vientiane. The others were freed earlier.
Eight men each received three-year prison sentences on charges of creating divisions and undermining the government, a source familiar with the case told The Associated Press.
One man and a 20-year-old woman each received one-year sentences, and three older women received suspended one-year sentences, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Charges that the detainees received foreign funds also apparently influenced the sentencing, the source said. Five of those receiving the three-year sentences worked for a U.S.-based organization with religious affiliations.
Those originally arrested also included a French woman and a Thai Christian preacher, who were released along with the Americans after the group was held for four nights. All were expelled from the country. Twenty-six Laotians also were released later without being charged with any crime.
The Americans were members of Partners in Progress, a humanitarian evangelical organization based in Little Rock, Ark., with activities worldwide.
The arrests puzzled Vientiane's foreign community, since such prayer meetings had been taking place on a more-or-less regular basis for several years.
Laos has been ruled as a one-party communist state since the end of the Vietnam War in 1975.