Pretrial conference in prominent artist Gao Zhen’s case to be held at 9 a.m. on March 24, 2026, in the Third Courtroom of Sanhe City Court

（Rights Defense Network Information Center report）On March 21, 2026, this website learned that a pretrial conference in the case of prominent artist Gao Zhen will be held at 9 a.m. on March 24, 2026, in the Third Courtroom of Sanhe City Court.

On August 26, 2024, prominent artist Gao Zhen (the elder Gao brother of the Gao Brothers) was criminally detained while returning to China to visit family, on suspicion of infringing on the reputation of heroes and martyrs. He was subsequently formally arrested, and the case has reached the court and is at the prosecution stage. On December 14, 2025, a lawyer’s application for bail in Gao Zhen’s case was rejected, and the procuratorate recommended a three-year sentence.

After Gao Zhen was arrested, writer Ma Jian, who lives in the United Kingdom, launched a global petition in support of him, calling on the authorities to release Gao Zhen immediately. The petition has received signatures of support from nearly 200 writers and artists. His wife remains subject to border-control restrictions, and for purported reasons involving “national security,” cannot leave China. Their seven-year-old son, who is a U.S. citizen, is still unable to return to New York to attend school.

Gao Zhen’s biography: The elder brother in the prominent artist duo the “Gao Brothers.” On August 27, 2024, his family received a detention notice from the Sanhe City Public Security Bureau, stating that he was suspected of infringing on the reputation of heroes and martyrs. The works allegedly involved include the sculptures Execution of Christ, the Miss Mao series, and Mao Kneeling in Repentance, created years ago by the Gao Brothers, Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang. At present, his wife and son have been implicated and are unable to leave the country.

The Gao Brothers—the elder brother Gao Zhen was born in 1956, and the younger brother Gao Qiang was born in 1962—are both from Jinan, Shandong. The Gao Brothers are among the most prominent Chinese artists to emerge during China’s reform and opening-up period, and their firm political stance has left its mark on their work.

The Gao family suffered catastrophic persecution during the Cultural Revolution launched by Mao Zedong. Their father, who came from Jinan, the coastal provincial capital of Shandong, was persecuted to death in 1968, at the height of the Cultural Revolution; the two brothers were then only 6 and 12 years old, respectively. Twenty-five days after their father’s death, their mother and six children learned of the news of his alleged “suicide,” which they have always viewed with suspicion. Later, the Gao family went to Beijing to protest this injustice to the central government. In the end, all they received was a negligible amount of compensation.

Beginning in 1985, the Gao Brothers worked together on painting, installation, performance, photography and other artistic activities. Their sculptures and paintings in particular often deal with sensitive political issues. But the Gao Brothers have never considered themselves dissidents; they were merely expressing their views on society in the course of making art, which could touch upon China’s current system.

In February 1989, while attending an art exhibition in Beijing, the Gao Brothers happened to sign Fang Lizhi’s open letter to Deng Xiaoping. As a result, they were treated as dissidents and subjected to control by the authorities. From 1989 to 2003, they were prohibited from leaving the country and were not allowed to do so until 2004.

In recent years, the Xi Jinping authorities have continually strengthened controls over the speech of domestic dissidents and public intellectuals. In April 2018, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress passed the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs, which aimed to pursue the legal liability of citizens for acts such as insulting or defaming the names, images and reputations of heroes and martyrs, and it took effect on May 1 of the same year. Gao Zhen was arrested on this charge.

This website will continue to follow Mr. Gao Zhen’s situation.