Urgent Attention: Human Rights Lawyer Wen Donghai Taken Under Control by Court Police at Guangxi’s Gongcheng Court and Subsequently Loses Contact
On July 10, 2026, this outlet learned that today human rights lawyer Wen Donghai went alone to the Gongcheng Court in Guangxi to assist a fellow lawyer. He was forcibly taken away by more than ten court police officers in the lobby of the Gongcheng Court, and his whereabouts are unknown. He subsequently lost contact, and no one answered his phone.
An article commemorating the 11th anniversary of the “709” crackdown that Lawyer Wen Donghai posted shortly before midnight on the evening of July 8 was blocked on the morning of July 9.
Rights activist Xie Wenfei speculated: The fact that Lawyer Wen Donghai was taken under control by court police was probably not merely the decision of the Gongcheng Court. Few human rights lawyers like Lawyer Wen, who commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 709 mass arrests so conscientiously and publicly, are to be found. There are certainly no shortage of people who have long disliked him, who may use this opportunity to intimidate him, make things difficult for him, or even intend to persecute him. This should attract everyone’s close attention.
In recent years, Guangxi’s judicial system has repeatedly cracked down harshly on human rights lawyers, rights activists, faith groups and others.
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