After signing documents agreeing to not meet at that location again, 12 others, including women and teenagers, have been released. The Christians in Savannakhet Province belong to a church in Paksong Village in Songkhone District, which was barred from holding church services in 2012. The pastor of the church was arrested and coerced into signing a document saying the church would stop meeting. According to Human Rights Watch for Lao Religious Freedom, the authorities, including the new village chief, claimed that Christians in that area did not receive permission to hold worship services; however, the Christians claimed they received permission from the former village chief approximately a year before.