Human rights lawyer Xie Yang's case to be sentenced on March 23, 2026

 

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On March 22, 2026, this website learned that human rights lawyer Xie Yang's case will be sentenced on March 23, 2026.

According to a notice issued today by Chen Guiqiu: “Information on the trial of lawyer Xie Yang's case: Today, the Changsha Intermediate People's Court called Xie Yang's elder brother and said that the Xie Yang case will be sentenced in court next Monday, March 23. Xie Yang's elder brother, sister-in-law and niece will attend the hearing. During the 1,530 days that lawyer Xie Yang has been detained, he has endured tremendous suffering. If the Changsha Intermediate People's Court gives him even one day of imprisonment, it will be illegal and will greatly add to the disgrace of the Changsha Intermediate People's Court and the Changsha Public Security Bureau. History will settle the account; God will settle the account!”

Biography of lawyer Xie Yang: Born on February 4, 1972, he is from Changsha, Hunan Province. He is a former lawyer at Tiandiren Law Firm and Changsha Jingyingke Law Firm, a former lawyer at Hunan Gangwei Law Firm, a human rights lawyer and a Chinese political prisoner in custody.

Since formally beginning to practice in 2011, he has repeatedly been obstructed, pressured and suppressed by judicial authorities for representing multiple cases involving abuses of public power, such as the Xue Mingkai case in Qufu County, Shandong Province; the Zhang Baocheng case related to the New Citizens Movement in Beijing; the Nanle church case in Nanle County, Henan Province; and the Zhang Kaihua land rights defense case in Liuyang City, Hunan Province, as well as for actively following and participating in social rights defense movements, including visiting blind lawyer Chen Guangcheng and supporting lawyers arrested in Jiansanjiang;

On November 15, 2011, he was beaten and robbed by local criminal forces after going alone to Dongshigu Village, Shandong Province, to visit blind lawyer Chen Guangchen;

In August 2013, while representing a civil lending dispute and demanding the result of the collegial panel's deliberations in order to safeguard his client's interests, he was fined 50,000 yuan by the Hunan Lawyers Association and was required by his law firm to terminate his contract and leave;

On February 13, 2014, because he had been retained as a lawyer in the “Shandong Xue family murder case,” he was taken away by authorities from the Hunan Provincial Department of Justice for a “chat over tea”; on February 20, 2014, while representing Zhang Kaihua, a land rights defender in Liuyang City, Hunan Province, he was subjected to brutal obstruction by the local court when appearing in court; from October 2013 to May 2014, because he had represented rights defense cases multiple times, he was subjected to disguised suppression by the Hunan Lawyers Association, which refused to approve the procedures for transferring to another law firm;

In March 2015, because he had actively represented multiple forced land expropriation and demolition cases in Yuhua District, Changsha, he was illegally expelled by the local court while representing farmers from Lianhu Village in an administrative lawsuit over land expropriation; on May 17, 2015, because he was representing a rights defense case for parties at the Beibu Gulf Building Materials Market in Nanning, Guangxi, he was attacked with weapons by several unidentified people, suffering serious injuries and a fracture of his right leg. Although he reported the incident to the police, local police delayed dispatching officers;

On July 11, 2015, he was taken away by police in Changsha, Hunan Province, during the Chinese Communist Party's “709 mass arrests.” He was subsequently placed under residential surveillance at a designated location on suspicion of “disturbing court order” and “inciting subversion of state power.” His lawyers' requests to meet with him were denied;

On January 9, 2016, he was formally arrested by Changsha police on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”;

On May 8, 2017, his case was heard by the Changsha Intermediate Court in Hunan Province. However, because he was forced to plead guilty in court and deny having been tortured, he was temporarily released on bail that day; on December 26 of the same year, he was formally sentenced by the Changsha Intermediate Court: he was found guilty of inciting subversion of state power but exempted from criminal punishment; although he was not sentenced to imprisonment, he continued to be subjected to long-term house arrest and close surveillance;

On January 11, 2022, Xie Yang was taken away by Changsha police and became unreachable after traveling to Yongshun County, Hunan Province, in late 2022 to support Li Tiantian, a pregnant female teacher who had been forcibly confined in a psychiatric hospital because of comments she had posted online. It was later learned that he had been criminally detained on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power” and “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; his residence was searched, many personal belongings were damaged, and two computers and a safe were confiscated; on February 17, 2022, the Changsha Procuratorate formally approved his arrest on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” He was tortured in prison. Lawyer Xie Yang is currently detained at Changsha No. 1 Detention Center (No. 1736 Yuanda 2nd Road, Quantang Subdistrict, Changsha County, Changsha City, Hunan Province, postal code: 410131).

>This website will continue to follow lawyer Xie Yang's situation.