Wang Hanfei (王寒非)
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Wang Hanfei • 王寒非
(released)
Current Detention
Crimes: Illegal business activity, fraud
Length of Punishment: Three years six months
Court: Beihu District People’s Court (Hunan Province)
Trial Date: December 13, 2012
Sentencing Date: December 24, 2012
Place of Incarceration: Chenzhou Prison
Dates of Detention/Arrest: July 15, 2012 (detention); July 23, 2012 (arrest); January 20, 2016 (released)
Appeal Hearing Date: April 3, 2013
Appeal Hearing Court: Chenzhou Intermediate People’s Court (Hunan Province)
Appeal Sentencing Date: April 20, 2013
Appeal Hearing Ruling: Upheld original ruling
Background
Wang Hanfei, editor of the Hong Kong-based journal “China Special Report” (中国观察), was sentenced to three and a half years in prison in December 2012, likely for publishing articles that authorities deemed to be politically sensitive. Activists were blocked from observing the hearing, and authorities have warned Wang’s wife to keep silent about the case and prevented her from visiting Wang. Wang appealed, and a second-instance trial was held at the Chenzhou Intermediate People’s Court in April 2013. The court upheld the original verdict. In May 2013, it was reported that Wang was being forced to work long hours in prison, and had also been seriously beaten. In August 2014, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention issued an opinion stating that Wang Hanfei had been arbitrarily detained and that the government should release him. Chinese authorities ignored the UN’s request, and imprisoned Wang until his sentence expired in January 2016.
Born in 1966, Wang registered “China Special Report” in 2009 and published a large number of articles ranging from disclosing official corruption, criticizing Chinese authorities to reporting human rights activists’ experience. He was taken into custody in July 2012 after publishing articles that disclosed corruption by the Chenzhou Communist Party secretary and praised Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波).
Further Information
2014年8月29日- 任意拘留问题工作组第21/2014号 (中国)意见 事关王寒非
CHRD Reply to Chinese Government Response on Wang Hanfei – December 16, 2013
Chinese government’s response on case of Wang Hanfei, November 2013 (Chinese only)
CHRD Submission to UN on Wang Hanfei – August 29, 2013
“Wang Hanfei Sentenced by Court in Chenzhou, Hunan for Disclosing Corruption in Hong Kong-based Journal” (王寒非香港出刊揭腐被湖南郴州法院判刑), April 3, 2013, VOA