Xu Yan and Yu Wensheng were found guilty and given sentences for “inciting subversion of State power.”
On 29 October 2024, the Suzhou Intermediate Court in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, convicted human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and woman human rights defender Xu Yan for “inciting subversion of State power”. Yu Wensheng was sentenced to three years in prison while Xu Yan was sentenced to one year and nine months in prison. They have both been arbitrarily detained since April 2023 when they were arrested by public security agents while en route to an event in Beijing organised by the European Union Delegation to China.
Between 28-30 August 2024, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were put on trial separately at the Suzhou Intermediate Court. Diplomats from concerned countries went to Suzhou to observe the trials but were not allowed to enter the courtroom on the pretext of there being no available seats. Other human rights defenders who went to the court or attempted to travel to the court were either barred from entering or intercepted on the way by public security agents.
Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the verdicts and sentences handed down to Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan and believes they are solely an act of retaliation against the peaceful and legitimate human rights work of the human rights defenders. Front Line Defenders urges the relevant authorities in China to promptly quash the convictions and sentences of the two human rights defenders and calls for their immediate release.
Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and woman human rights defender Xu Yan has been arbitrarily detained for one year without trial since their arrest on 13 April 2023. Both human rights defenders were arrested in Beijing while en route to a meeting with European diplomats.
Yu Wensheng (余文生) is a human rights lawyer based in Beijing. He has represented cases of victims of China’s crackdowns on petitioners, civil rights activists, and his fellow human rights lawyers. Yu Wensheng has also used his legal skills to advocate for reform in multiple sectors of Chinese society. In 2016, Yu Wensheng was one of a small group of lawyers to sue the Chinese government over air pollution in the country. He is a recipient of the Franco-German Prize for Human Rights and the Rule of Law in 2018 and the Martin Ennals Award in 2021. Yu Wensheng had previously served a four-year sentence from 2018 to 2022 after being convicted for “inciting subversion of state power”. After he completed his sentence, he continued to speak out against human rights violations and arbitrary detention of human rights defenders.
Xu Yan (许艳) is a woman human rights defender who campaigned for the release of Yu Wensheng, to whom she is married, as well as for other human rights defenders and their family members who face harassment, surveillance, and arbitrary detention.
On 14 April 2023, a day after their arrest, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were placed under criminal detention, charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. In October 2023, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were indicted on this charge, along with a more severe charge of “inciting subversion of state power.” Both accusations are vaguely defined offences frequently employed to target human rights defenders and activists exercising their fundamental freedoms.
Yu Wensheng was denied access to legal counsel for several months until a meeting was permitted in late December 2023. Both defenders remained detained in Beijing from their arrest until January 2024, after which they were transferred to Suzhou Detention Centre in Jiangsu province, approximately 1000 km away.
On 15 April 2023, two days after the couple’s arrest, police visited their residence in Beijing and verbally notified their son, who had just turned eighteen, of his parents’ criminal detention. However, the police failed to provide a copy of the criminal detention notice and declined the son’s request to photograph it. The police also conducted a search of the residence and confiscated items without presenting a search warrant. The son’s mental health has seriously deteriorated over the last year.
Front Line Defenders believes the detention and charges against Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan are a reprisal for their peaceful and legitimate human rights work.
Front Line Defenders urges the authorities in China to:
Immediately and unconditionally release Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan;
Ensure that, pending their release, they are not subjected to any form of torture or other ill-treatment, that they receive adequate healthcare and that their human rights are guaranteed in accordance with international law and standards while in detention;
Ensure their son and other members of their family are not subjected to harassment or threats; and
Guarantee in all circumstances that all human rights defenders in China are able to carry out their legitimate human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions, including judicial harassment.
