Punished for Speech: Hunan Zhuzhou Self-Media Writer Yin Jiangen Yin Jiangen Sentenced to 2 Years and 3 Months by Anhui’s Hexian County Court on August 6, 2026

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On August 9, 2026, this outlet learned that Yin Jiangen Yin Jiangen, a self-media writer from Zhuzhou, Hunan, was sentenced at first instance to 2 years and 3 months by Anhui’s Hexian County Court on August 6, 2026, for his speech.

On August 11, 2025, he was arrested across provincial borders by Hexian police from Zhuzhou, Hunan, for publishing an article criticizing the Party secretary of Liyang Town, Hexian County, Anhui; in February 2026, his case went to trial, but no verdict was announced in court. On August 6, Yin Jiangen was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months.

All the charges in the case in which Yin Jiangen was punished for his speech concern more than 450 posts published on WeChat public accounts under the names “Sunlight Beneath the Plow” and “That Beam of Light in Spring,” containing criticism and oversight of certain village and community secretaries, subdistrict offices, government departments, public security organs, courts and others.”

Yin Jiangen’s profile: Born in 1965, a native of Hunan Province, living in the Guihua residential community in Hetang Town, Zhuzhou City, a self-media writer, a blogger on the Weibo public account under the name “Sunlight Beneath the Plow,” a Legal Online reporter, a citizen defending rights, and a political prisoner in custody in China.

Because he is upright and has long been devoted to issues concerning the livelihoods of ordinary people, with the emergence and development of Generation Z (also called the “Internet generation” and “digital natives”), he began creating self-media platforms to expose current abuses and often wrote articles to speak out for many vulnerable groups seeking to defend their rights;

On August 11, 2025, he published on a self-media platform an article titled “Anhui’s Hexian County Again Reproduces Shandong Pingdu’s ‘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, Hexian County, Anhui. As a result, police from Hexian County, Ma’anshan City, Anhui Province, crossed provincial borders and went to the residential community where he lived in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province, demanding that he delete the post; he refused. He was subsequently taken away by Hexian police and contact with him was lost. After his family and friends (including concerned internet users) made inquiries through various channels, they finally learned 20 days later that he had been criminally detained by Hexian police of Ma’anshan City on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and was being held in the Hexian County Detention Center;

It was alleged that his arrest was connected to his repeated online reports, under the pen name “Sunlight Beneath the Plow,” about the case of Hexian petitioner Chen Dezhen’s “rights defense over unpaid brick money owed by the Second Brick Kiln Factory,” and his speaking out to clear Chen’s name and help defend his rights. Chen had originally been a law-abiding farmer in Hexian County, Anhui, but after a debt dispute in 1995 involving 90,000 red bricks from the local Second Brick Kiln Factory, the local Liyang Town government illegally transferred the creditor’s rights to a rubber company, forcing Chen to defend his rights for a long time. In 2021, Chen finally reached an agreement with the local town government on compensation for the brick money, but afterward the town government again broke its promise and refused to pay. Chen therefore went to Beijing to petition and was sentenced to one year. After his release, 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 and speak out for him, but unexpectedly this brought pressure and warnings from the authorities in Chen Dezhen’s locality, Hexian County, Anhui Province;

On September 3, 2025, his defense lawyer met with him at the Hexian County Detention Center. With his consent, the lawyer submitted to the police and the local procuratorate an application for release on bail pending trial, an application to report the case for designated jurisdiction, and an application for supervision of the decision not to arrest him, but all were rejected. On September 15, 2025, the Hexian County Procuratorate of Anhui Province formally approved his arrest on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” During his detention, after reviewing the case files at the Hexian County Procuratorate, the lawyer met with him. He said that he had been subjected to prolonged interrogation by case-handling personnel and that they had demanded that he confess. In mid-December 2025, the case was transferred to the Hexian County Procuratorate for review and prosecution. After learning of the above circumstances, dozens of internet users launched a joint petition and sent a letter to the Hexian County People’s Procuratorate, requesting that it conduct a strict, lawful, independent, objective and impartial review and make a decision not to prosecute him. Yin Jiangen Yin Jiangen, a self-media writer from Zhuzhou, Hunan, was sentenced at first instance to 2 years and 3 months by Anhui’s Hexian County Court on August 6, 2026. He is currently being held at the Hexian County Detention Center in Anhui Province. His sentence runs until: November 10, 2027.

This outlet will continue to follow developments in Yin Jiangen’s case.