Five cult members charged for intentional homicide  

山東招遠麥當勞殺人案5名嫌犯被提起公訴

Five cult members have been charged with intentional homicide, China's Supreme People's Procuratorate announced on Thursday.

Yantai City People's Procuratorate in east China's Shandong Province filed the charge against the suspects with Yantai Intermediate People's Court on July 21.

Zhang Fan, Zhang Lidong, Lyu Yingchun, Zhang Hang and Zhang Qiaolian have been charged with intentional homicide for the murder of a customer in a McDonald's outlet.

A woman surnamed Wu was beaten to death on May 28 at the restaurant in Zhaoyuan city, Shandong, after she refused to give her telephone number to the suspects, who were allegedly trying to recruit new members to their cult Quannengshen, which means "almighty god."

"The circumstances are especially serious, their means are especially cruel, and the aftermath is especially serious," the indictment said.

According to the indictment, suspects Zhang Fan, Zhang Lidong and Lyu Yingchun have also been charged with disrupting public order.

After Quannengshen was banned, the three continued to conduct cult activities, organize gatherings for members, produce and disseminate the cult's information via the Internet, and recruit new members, the indictment said.

Their activities have "undermined the implementation of laws and administrative rules and the circumstances are serious," it said.