Alert: Trial imminent for Chinese lawyer arbitrarily detained and allegedly tortured

October 8, 2025 Comments Off

(Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders, October 8, 2025)–Human rights lawyer Zhang Wenpeng is likely to soon be tried on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” in Sanya, Hainan Province. Prosecutors indicted him on July 14, 2025, and transferred the case to court. Under Chinese law, a verdict should be issued within two to three months of the court accepting the case, meaning that a verdict for Zhang could be rendered as early as October 14.

On September 24, 2024, Sanya police detained Zhang on charges of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” which was reportedly in retaliation for his consultancy on a corruption case involving a client. He is currently held at Sanya No. 2 Detention Center. Zhang has allegedly endured torture: his lawyer reported that in December 2024 Zhang was shackled in heavy chains for seven days and nights. His complaints about the abuse have been ignored or yielded unsatisfactory responses. While Zhang has been granted access to lawyers of his choice, in February 2025 the detention center denied his lawyer the opportunity to review Zhang’s case files with him. Their meetings have been monitored.

Zhang, a 32-year-old human rights lawyer from Shandong Province, passed the bar exam in 2016. But he has not been able to obtain a license to practice law because of his opposition to the government-controlled lawyers’ association, which Zhang alleged was corrupt. Because Zhang does not have a lawyer’s license, he has worked as an intern at law firms. Zhang was briefly detained in 2022 after he accused the head of the Qingdao Bureau of Justice of corruption. In 2023, he co-signed a letter to the National People’s Congress recommending the repeal of the “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” offense with which he is now charged.

Zhang’s rights to freedom from arbitrary detention, to be free from torture, to fair trial rights, and his right to practice as a lawyer are being violated. The Chinese government is obligated to prevent and investigate allegations of torture under the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which China ratified in 1988. United Nations human rights experts have called for the revocation of the charge of “picking quarrels” due to its broad wording and repeated application against those who are exercising their rights.

Rather than move ahead with a prosecution, Chinese authorities should immediately drop the charges against Zhang Wenpeng and swiftly issue his lawyers’ license. They should also investigate and prosecute those officials who have been implicated in Zhang’s arbitrary detention and ill-treatment in detention.

For more information, please contact:

Sophie Richardson, Co-Executive Director, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, sophierichardson[at]nchrd.org, +1 917 721 7473

Angeli Datt, Research and Advocacy Coordinator, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, angelidatt[at]nchrd.org, +1 934 444 6155

Shane Yi, Researcher, Chinese Human Rights Defenders, shaneyi[at]nchrd.org