Hubei Rights Activist on Trial, Facing Unexplained Additional Charges

Hubei Shiyan rights activist Yin Dengzhen was arrested at his home in Beijing and detained on suspicion of provoking trouble. The case went to trial on April 9th, where prosecutors suddenly added charges of “obstructing official duties” and “disrupting the order of state organs” against Yin Dengzhen, seeking a heavier sentence, which was rejected by his lawyer.

During the trial, despite the strong evidence and witnesses on our side, the prosecutor’s office did not follow the contents of the indictment and added the two charges of “obstructing official duties” and “disrupting the order of state organs” at the last minute. The trial lasted from 8:30 in the morning until around 7 in the evening, with the verdict scheduled for a later date.

Yin Dengzhen’s family and lawyer have raised objections regarding jurisdiction (the incident occurred in Beijing where Yin Dengzhen has a residence permit), the principle of non bis in idem, illegal arrest procedures (Yin Dengzhen was abducted in Beijing without due process, and multiple falsifications in the case file), and Yin Dengzhen’s health issues with the Shiyan City Public Security Bureau, the Procuratorate, and the court, but these objections were not accepted. Furthermore, several officials visited the detention center to intimidate Yin Dengzhen, threatening her with a 6-year sentence and the arrest of her daughter Xia Beibei.

The trial for Yin Dengzhen’s “provoking trouble” charge has been relocated four times prior to the trial and was abruptly canceled once.

Yin Dengzhen’s daughter informed a reporter that several rights activists intending to attend the trial as observers were subjected to local government security measures and were informed they were not allowed to travel to Hubei to participate in Yin Dengzhen’s open trial.

On April 8th, around 10 rights activists encountered control by various public security officers on the train, at Shiyan Railway Station, and nearby hotels. On the morning of April 9th, despite facing numerous obstacles, four rights activists managed to reach the Yuyang District Court in Shiyan to show support, including Jia Lingmin from Henan, Zhang Fuying from Liaoning, Li Shouping from Jiangsu, and Sun Zhengyi from Wuhan. However, unidentified individuals arranged by the court had filled up the courtroom seats, blocking these four individuals from entering.

According to on-site rights activists, there were at least nearly 200 security personnel surrounding the court, checking identities, prohibiting photography and video recording, and even using a signal jamming vehicle to cut off signals in the vicinity.

Yin Dengzhen reported corruption involving Hubei Shiyan City government leaders and a vegetable market boss back in 2003, leading to the sale of a multi-million-dollar vegetable market to the boss for only 800,000 yuan, resulting in significant loss of state-owned assets and the layoffs of over 600 state-owned enterprise employees.

As a result of this report, Yin Dengzhen faced 20 years of persecution by the Shiyan City government and law enforcement. In 2009, the Shiyan authorities fabricated evidence to charge Yin Dengzhen with “extortion”, resulting in a 3-year sentence. This case was overturned and declared innocent on May 30, 2022.

However, due to prolonged persecution, Yin Dengzhen has endured years of imprisonment, illegal detention, confinement in black prisons, mental hospitalization for 12 years, and has been subjected to over 50 incidents of violence, robbery, and kidnapping, resulting in a miscarriage, lymphoma, and continuous abuse. In recent years, she has faced renewed persecution for seeking accountability and compensation.

On January 26, 2025, at 07:07, Yin Dengzhen was abducted from her home in Daxing District, Beijing by six gang members, and that night was criminally detained for “provoking trouble” at Shiyan City Detention Center. On February 7, she was rushed to Shiyan People’s Hospital due to illness and has since been held in the hospital’s basement under the watch of 15 to 16 guards.

On February 19, Yin Dengzhen’s husband, Xiao Shujun, was also arrested across provinces for seeking help online for his wife and was detained and arrested for “provoking trouble”, currently being held at the detention center in Tongjiang City, Heilongjiang.

Yin Dengzhen’s daughter mentioned that her mother is suffering from lymphoma, and her father has severe epilepsy and heart disease, leaving him paralyzed in a wheelchair for four years. “The lawyers have repeatedly applied for changes in the coercive measures, but the detention centers in two places and the municipal hospital have tampered with medical records, illegally detaining them based on their health conditions, citing reasons of compliance with detention and sentencing, aiming for heavy sentences to let them die in prison.”