Prominent rights lawyer Chang Boyang (常伯阳) had his home raided and was taken away for questioning in late May 2014 after local authorities repeatedly denied his requests to visit his clients – activists who were detained for organizing a memorial event earlier that year to commemorate June Fourth as well (read more…)
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Christian pastor Zhang Shaojie, along with approximately 20 church members, was forcibly taken into custody without a warrant in November 2013. In addition to a 12-year prison sentence, the court also ordered Zhang to pay a fine of 100,000 yuan (more than US$ 16,000) after he was convicted on a (read more…)
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Ma Xinli, born in 1966, is a former bus driver who has petitioned to protect intellectual property rights for his inventions, and called for reforming China’s Patent Law. Detained previously for such activities, he was seized along with other activists in mid-March 2013, when they attempted to submit an open (read more…)
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From Guangdong Province, Huang Wenxun was arrested in Hubei while on an “advocacy tour” called “Enlightening China,” which was intended to encourage citizen activism and spread democratic ideas and rule of law. The tour, initiated by Huang, began in April 2013 and had stopped at nine cities before arriving at (read more…)
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Shanghai-based Li Huaping, born in 1966, was a successful businessman before becoming a pro-democracy activist and supporting the development of an active civil society. Li was detained in a nationwide crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression that began in early 2013. He supported and participated in the New (read more…)
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Police took Anhui-based activist Zhou Weilin from his home in September 2013 without any warrant. The authorities also confiscated several of his personal belongings, including a computer, cell phone, and materials concerning human rights. In spring 2013, Zhou was put under administrative detention for protesting against violations of children’s right (read more…)
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Pu Zhiqiang is a prominent human rights lawyer and partner at the Huayi Law Firm in Beijing. Police seized Pu on May 4, 2014, after he had attended a private event the previous day commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen Massacre. Pu was arrested just as the legal limit for holding him (read more…)
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Miao Deshun (苗德顺), born in 1963, is believed to be the last person still imprisoned since being detained when the 1989 pro-democracy movement was suppressed in Beijing and other cities. Miao, a factory worker at the time, was seized on June 4 for allegedly throwing a basket on a burning (read more…)
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Ren Ziyuan, born in 1979, was a language and literature teacher at the Zoucheng No. 10 Middle School in Jining, Shandong before he was detained and arrested by the Jining City Public Security Bureau in May 2005 for allegedly trying to form a political party. In 2006, the court claimed (read more…)
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Prominent Anhui-based activist Zhang Lin was arrested in a nationwide crackdown on freedom of assembly, association, and expression that began in early 2013. Authorities seized Zhang in apparent retaliation for protests in support of his 10-year-old daughter, Anni Zhang, who was blocked by authorities from attending school in Hefei City. (read more…)
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Liu Benqi (刘本琦) was sentenced after posting his opinions about democracy online and contacting political dissidents. He was initially taken into custody on suspicion of “spreading rumors or slanders or using other means to incite subverting state power or overthrow the socialist system.” He was held for almost a year (read more…)
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Yang Lin (aka Yang Mingyu 杨明玉) went missing in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on June 12, 2013, and his fate was unknown until his family received a detention notice in August 2013, stating that he had been arrested on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” Shortly before he went missing, (read more…)
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