China stages secret trial for artist who satirized Mao Zedong
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By AFP, Beijing
Originally published by UCA news on March 30, 2026
https://www.ucanews.com/news/china-stages-secret-trial-for-artist-who-satirized-mao-zedong/112568
Chinese artist Gao Zhen faces charges of insulting “heroes and martyrs” over works that criticized former leader Mao Zedong
A rights group called for the immediate release of jailed Chinese artist Gao Zhen, whose works criticised former leader Mao Zedong, as his trial began on March 30.
The US-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said 69-year-old Gao, who is accused of slandering China’s heroes, was tried behind closed doors at a court in the northern city of Sanhe, though no verdict has yet been announced.
“Gao Zhen has the right to freedom of artistic expression. The use of a contrived, retroactively applied law and a closed trial underscores serious due process violations,” CHRD researcher Shane Yi said in a statement.
“The charges should be dropped and Gao Zhen released immediately.”
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He was indicted in June last year on charges of insulting “heroes and martyrs”, according to CHRD.
Since 2021, that crime has carried a maximum sentence of three years in prison, but authorities appear to be applying it retroactively to works that Gao created between 2005 and 2009.
Gao has several medical conditions, and his health has deteriorated during his detention, CHRD said.
His wife and their seven-year-old son, a US citizen, have been barred from leaving China.
The absence of a verdict on March 30 indicated that “a political decision has not yet been made about the case”, CHRD’s co-executive director Sophie Richardson said.
“This has nothing to do with law.”
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