Update on the Trial of Beijing Disabled Rights Defender Ge Zhihui in a Case of Picking Quarrels and Provoking Trouble

(Rights Protection Network Information Center report) On October 6, 2026, this website learned that the case of Beijing disabled rights defender Ge Zhihui, accused of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, was heard at the Beijing Fengtai District Court on September 14, 2026. During the trial, Ge Zhihui repeatedly asked the judge to suspend the proceedings because of her high blood pressure. The judge ordered her to take blood-pressure medication and continued the trial.

Because the court made things difficult in every possible way and refused to allow the lawyer retained by her family to appear and defend her, Ge Zhihui’s son, Sun Hao, defended his mother himself and pointed out various procedural violations during the court’s examination of evidence. The trial began at 8 a.m. and ended after 7 p.m. Many Beijing Christians and rights advocates wanted to attend the hearing and show their support for Ge Zhihui, but the authorities warned them not to go. Some who reached the courthouse were stopped by court police and barred from observing.

Ge Zhihui had previously been sentenced to four years in prison for picking quarrels and provoking trouble (2019–2023). On November 11, 2025, Ge Zhihui was again criminally detained by the Fengtai Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and was formally arrested on December 18, 2025. She is currently being held at the Fengtai Detention Center.

Biography of Ge Zhihui: Female, born in 1966, from Fengtai District, Beijing; a resident of Courtyard No. 20, South Weijia Village, Fengtai District; a disabled rights advocate, real-name whistleblower, and human rights defender.

In 2008, her commercial premises were forcibly demolished by the government, and all her property was looted. She received no compensation or relocation for a long time. Because she pursued a reasonable protest, she was instead beaten and left disabled by the other party. Forced to walk with two crutches and a disabled body, she embarked on a path of rights-protection litigation, but was repeatedly illegally detained as a result and subjected to several rounds of administrative and criminal detention, among other severe crackdowns and reprisals.

On July 16, 2010, because she had lodged complaints in defense of her rights, local authorities and people they had hired to cause trouble illegally broke into her home, beat her unconscious, and dragged her away.

In early 2012, she was brutally beaten and left disabled while resisting violence and defending her rights. Her repeated petitions achieved nothing and instead brought reprisals, leaving her in an extremely desperate situation. After repeatedly going to the district government to seek help and being fobbed off in every possible way, she chose to jump from a building in despair. She was fortunately given timely treatment and survived.

In 2015, she was beaten by Fengtai District police for supporting the case of human rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang, injuring the ligament in her right leg; she was unable to obtain treatment for a long time.

In December 2015, after petitioning the National People’s Congress and calling for a constitutional review of Hong Kong’s “August 31 Decision,” she was summoned and detained for more than 20 hours and told not to speak about Hong Kong again.

On October 15, 2018, fearing secret persecution by local authorities, she was forced to sleep on the streets and struggled to get by. On June 20, 2019, she and rights defender Li Meiqing, who lives in the same district, went to the site of the central anti-organized crime inspection group to report the government’s forcible demolition of homes in a manner resembling that of organized crime, and were blocked by Fengtai District stability-maintenance personnel.

On July 26, 2019, she was criminally detained by Beijing Fengtai District police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” and her home was searched. The Fengtai District Procuratorate later formally approved her arrest and indicted her on the same charge, alleging that she had gone to petition outside the Fengtai District Government in Beijing, visited rights activist Cao Shunli at the Beijing 999 Emergency Medical Center, expressed views at the boundary-change election site of the Zhengchangzhuang Village Committee in Fengtai District, and posted information about rights-protection activities online, among other things, thereby violating relevant government laws.

Her case was heard at the Beijing Fengtai District Court on December 15, 2020. On September 17, 2021, the court ultimately sentenced her in the first instance, by video, to four years’ imprisonment for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” On March 11, 2023, she completed her sentence and was released. It is reported that she was bullied by other inmates several times while in detention. She had previously served her sentence at Beijing Tianhe Prison (Mailbox 1290-10, No. 9 Qingfeng Road, Tiantanghe, Daxing District, Beijing, Postal Code 102609, telephone 1600628).

On August 31, 2024, Ge Zhihui was again criminally detained by the Fengtai Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and held at the Fengtai District Detention Center in Beijing. It is reported that the alleged “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” consisted of her posting on Kuaishou legal documents from past years, including notices summoning her, decisions on administrative detention, criminal detention, and sentencing judgments. One month later, she was released on bail pending trial.

At 10 p.m. on November 11, 2025, Ms. Ge Zhihui was again criminally detained by the Fengtai Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, and was formally arrested on December 18, 2025. She is currently being held at the Fengtai Detention Center.