Case chronology
- April 17, 2022 — Pastor Huang Lei founds the Panshi Bible house church in Yueyang’s Yuelou District. Mr. Yang Jianjun serves as an elder of the congregation. (Rights Defense Network, August 21, 2026)
- 2022–2024 — The congregation is repeatedly pressed to join the officially sanctioned “Three-Self” church system; pastor Huang Lei is twice subjected to 15-day administrative detentions (2022 and April 2024). The church continues meeting independently. (Rights Defense Network, August 21, 2026)
- July 11, 2026 — Yueyang police, coordinating multiple units, raid the Panshi church and other independent meeting points in a unified sweep. Multiple congregants and pastoral co-workers are seized; homes and meeting places are searched and Bibles and Christian literature confiscated. Several detained believers are later released after lengthy interrogations, but pastor Huang Lei, preacher Hu Hongtao, and elder Yang Jianjun remain in continued detention. (Rights Defense Network, August 21, 2026)
- July 27, 2026 — On the expiry date of the 15-day administrative detentions, the three are not released. Yueyanglou District police instead transfer them to criminal detention on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks” (非法利用信息网络罪）. (Rights Defense Network, August 21, 2026)
- August 2026 — Pastor Huang Lei completes a first meeting with a lawyer. Reporting on lawyer access for Mr. Yang and Mr. Hu is mixed across sources. (Rights Defense Network, August 21, 2026; Free China Movement rapid response, September 2, 2026)
- August 31, 2026 — A monthly monitoring report lists 杨建军 among Hunan’s detainees awaiting trial (羁押未判）, confirming he remained in custody at that date. (Rights Defense Network, Issue 131)
Source records
1. Rights Defense Network (维权网信息中心） case report, August 21, 2026 — “遭抓捕的岳阳市磐石圣经家庭教会创办人兼牧师黄磊的案情及简历”. The core case record: names 杨建军长老 among the three continuing detainees after the July 11 sweep; administrative detention → criminal detention on July 27 on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks”; Yueyang No. 1 Detention Center; forced biometric collection during custody; pressure on families to sign pledges. Source type: recognized independent monitoring organization; procedural claims are the outlet’s reporting. Verification: opened and read in full this pass (live fetch).
2. Rights Defense Network monthly report, August 31, 2026 — 中国大陆在押政治犯、良心犯月度报告， Issue 131. Lists 杨建军 in the 羁押未判 (detained without trial) Hunan regional group and in the pinyin name index; includes the same case narrative in its long-form section. Source type: recognized independent monitoring organization. Verification: report read directly; Chinese and English editions cross-checked positionally; local cached edition cross-checked.
3. Free China Movement rapid response, September 2, 2026 — “Three Yueyang Panshi Church Leaders Remain Criminally Detained After Administrative Terms Expired”. Independent corroboration of the case’s core facts: names elder Yang Jianjun with pastor Huang Lei and preacher Hu Hongtao; 15-day administrative detention expiring ~July 26; transfer to criminal detention on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks”; held at Yueyang First Detention Center. Cites ChinaAid (Aug 3, 2026), Voice of the Martyrs (Aug 2026), Minsheng Watch (Aug 9, 2026), and Bitter Winter (Aug 25, 2026). Published by the same movement in English, German, French, and Spanish editions. Verification: opened and read in full via the site’s read-only API this pass; content consistent with the Rights Defense Network account on all checkable points.
What remains undocumented
No official court filing, procuratorate notice, or state-media coverage of this detention has been publicly located. Whether the three detainees have been formally arrested, indicted, or tried — and the current procedural stage of Mr. Yang’s case — are not publicly documented. Lawyer access for Mr. Yang specifically is reported as mixed or unconfirmed across sources. His personal history before the July 2026 detention is not part of the public record located for this archive.
Related records
The person profile for this case: Yang Jianjun (杨建军）. His co-detainees in this case have their own published records: pastor Huang Lei (person, media archive) and preacher Hu Hongtao (person, media archive). They are separate individuals and are not merged here.
Archived person: Yang Jianjun (杨建军) — Person Profile