Rights group condemns trial of Chinese artist whose works criticise Mao
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News Service by AFP
Originally published by HKFP on March 30, 2026
The US-based Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) said 69-year-old Gao Zhen, 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.
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 Monday 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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