Hunan Zhuzhou self-media writer Yin Jiangen, sentenced to 2 years and 3 months at first instance, appeals the verdict in accordance with the law; second-instance hearing to be held publicly at 9 a.m. on September 10 in Courtroom 2 of He County Court

（Rights Defense Network Information Center report）On September 3, 2026，this outlet learned：for being punished for his speech，Hunan Zhuzhou self-media writer Yin Jiangen was sentenced at first instance to 2 years and 3 months by the He County Court of Anhui Province on August 6, 2026。One Yin Jiangen, dissatisfied with the verdict, filed an appeal in accordance with the law，and the second-instance hearing will be held publicly at 9 a.m. on September 10 in Courtroom 2 of He County Court

On August 11, 2025，he was apprehended across provincial borders by He County police from Zhuzhou, Hunan, for publishing an article criticizing the Party secretary of Liyang Town, He County, Anhui Province；in February 2026，his case was heard, but no verdict was announced in court。On August 6，Yin Jiangen was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months。Dissatisfied with the verdict, he appealed in accordance with the law。

All the charges in the case of Yin Jiangen being punished for his speech concern more than 450 articles Yin Jiangen published on WeChat public accounts using the two accounts “Sunlight Beneath the Pen” and “That Ray of Light in Spring,” containing criticism and oversight of certain village and community secretaries、subdistrict offices、government departments、public security organs、courts and other bodies。”

Yin Jiangen’s profile：Born in 1965，from Hunan Province，residing in the Guihua residential community in Hetang Town, Zhuzhou City，self-media writer，the name of his Weibo public account is “Sunlight Beneath the Pen”，reporter for Fazhi Online，rights-defense citizen，political prisoner detained in China。

Because he is upright and has long been committed to focusing on people’s livelihood issues，with the emergence and development of Generation Z (also known as the “internet-native generation” and the “internet generation”)，he began creating self-media platforms to expose current problems，and frequently wrote articles to speak out for many disadvantaged groups seeking to defend their rights；

On August 11, 2025，he published on a self-media platform an article titled 《Anhui He County Again Sees a Shandong Pingdu “Wang Li Secretary Version”; Compared with Her, Secretary Liu Ying Is “Even Better”》The article contained critical remarks about Liu Ying, Party secretary of Liyang Town, He County, Anhui Province，and as a result police from He County, Ma’anshan City, Anhui Province, crossed provincial borders and came to the residential community where he lived in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province，forcibly demanding that he delete the post；but he refused，after which he was taken away by He County police and lost contact；after his family and friends (including concerned netizens) made inquiries through various channels，they finally learned 20 days later that he had been criminally detained by He County police of Ma’anshan City on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”，and was being held at the He County Detention Center；

It is said that his arrest was connected to his repeatedly writing online under the pen name “Sunlight Beneath the Pen” to report on the “Er Yao Factory unpaid brick payments rights-defense” incident involving petitioner Chen Dezhen of He County, Anhui Province, and speaking out to seek redress and defend Chen’s rights；Chen was originally a law-abiding farmer from He County, Anhui, who became involved in a debt dispute in 1995 over 90,000 red bricks from the local Er Yao Factory，but the local Liyang Town government illegally transferred the creditor’s rights to a rubber company，forcing Chen to defend his rights for a long period；in 2021, Chen finally reached a brick-payment compensation agreement with the local town government，but afterward the town government again broke its promise and refused to pay，so Chen went to Beijing to petition and was sentenced to one year；after his release from prison，Chen posted on Weibo alleging that local government official Liu Ying had made a false police report，and was again administratively detained by police for 18 days；deeply saddened by and angered at the injustice of Chen’s experience，he wrote articles to help Chen and call for support，but unexpectedly this brought pressure and warnings from the authorities in Chen Dezhen’s locality, He County, Anhui Province；

On September 3, 2025，the defense lawyer met with him at the He County Detention Center and, with his consent，submitted to the police and the local procuratorate an application for release on bail pending trial、an application for designation of jurisdiction and an application for supervision of the decision not to approve the arrest，but all were rejected；on September 15, 2025，he was formally arrested by the He County Procuratorate of Anhui Province on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”。During his detention，the lawyer went to the He County Procuratorate to review the case files and then met with him，and he stated that he had been subjected to prolonged interrogation by case-handling personnel and was asked to confess guilt。In mid-December 2025，the case was transferred to the He County Procuratorate for review and prosecution。After learning of the above situation，dozens of netizens launched a joint-signature campaign and sent a letter to the People’s Procuratorate of He County，requesting that it strictly conduct an independent、objective and impartial review in accordance with the law，and issue a decision not to prosecute him in accordance with the law。Hunan Zhuzhou self-media writer Yin JiangenYin Jiangen was sentenced at first instance to 2 years and 3 months by the He County Court of Anhui Province on August 6, 2026。He is currently detained at the He County Detention Center in Anhui Province。His sentence ends on：November 10, 2027。

This outlet will continue to follow developments in the case of Yin Jiangen。