Renowned human rights defender Ding Jiaxi, sentenced to 12 years, spends his 59th birthday in prison

（Rights Defense Network Information Center report）On August 17, 2026，this outlet learned：today，renowned human rights defender Ding Jiaxi, who was sentenced to 12 years, spent his 59th birthday in prison。Mr. Ding Jiaxi has long promoted the citizens’ movement，has been sentenced twice, with a cumulative prison term of 15 years and 6 months，and is currently serving his sentence at Jiangbei Prison in Hubei。According to his wife, Luo Shengchun，Ding Jiaxi continues to face restrictions in prison on outdoor time、purchasing books、correspondence with family members, and family telephone calls。

His mailing address：Prison Administration Section, Jiangbei Prison, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province
For Ding Jiaxi, Postal Code：434110

Profile of Ding Jiaxi：Born on August 17, 1967，a native of Yichang, Hubei Province，former engineer at Shenyang Aviation Industry General Corporation and Beijing Aviation Industry General Corporation，formerly a member of the Corporate Restructuring Professional Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association，a member of the Central Legal Affairs Committee of the China Democratic League，secretary-general of the Beihang Entrepreneurs Association，director of the Legal Committee of the Zhongguancun International Software Incubation Association, among other positions，former director of Dehong Law Firm，renowned human rights lawyer，one of the organizers and coordinators of Beijing’s New Citizens Movement，and a political prisoner in China。

Since 2010，he actively participated in and promoted educational equality campaigns for “children of migrant workers to take the gaokao in their places of residence”，and on December 9, 2012，he and Xu Zhiyong、Sun Hanhui、Wang Yonghong and others issued an open letter to Xi Jinping, the newly appointed general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and other senior Chinese Communist Party leaders，calling for 205 Chinese officials at or above the ministerial level, including Xi Jinping, to be the first to publicly disclose their assets，and broadly soliciting more than 8,000 citizen signatures。These activities touched the Chinese Communist Party’s fragile and sensitive nerves，and he was consequently criminally detained by Beijing police on April 17, 2013, on suspicion of “illegal assembly”，and held at Beijing No. 3 Detention Center。On May 21 and November 4, 2013，Beijing police successively changed the charges against him to “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and “the crime of gathering a crowd to disturb social order”；on January 27, 2014，the Beijing authorities opened a trial against him on the charge of “gathering a crowd to disturb social order”，but because serious violations of the law occurred during the trial and the outcome of the case was clearly unfavorable，he was forced to announce in court that he was terminating the engagement of his defense lawyers，forcing the court to adjourn and announce that it would issue its verdict at a later date；on April 18, 2014，after a retrial by Beijing’s Haidian District Court，he was ultimately sentenced to three years and six months in prison for “gathering a crowd to disturb order in a public place”，and was subsequently sent to Qianjin Prison at Chadian, Tianjin, to serve his sentence；he was released after completing his sentence on October 16, 2016；

In December 2019，because he participated in a private gathering held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, attended by many dissidents from various regions（later referred to by the authorities as the “Xiamen Gathering Case”），on December 26 of the same year，he was taken away by Shandong police from a friend’s home，and was subsequently placed under residential surveillance at a designated location by Yantai police as the principal defendant in the “Xiamen Gathering Case”；on June 19, 2020，he was formally arrested by police in Linshu County, Linyi City, on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”；on August 5, 2021，the Linyi Municipal Procuratorate indicted him on the charge of subversion of state power，and transferred the case to the Linyi Intermediate People’s Court for trial；it was learned that during secret detention，he was subjected to brutal torture，including being deprived of sleep for 73 consecutive days、being forced to “sit on the tiger bench” for eight consecutive days（an extreme form of torture）、being subjected for six months to abuse involving only noise and 24-hour exposure to fluorescent lights、being prohibited from bathing and brushing his teeth for long periods、and even being deprived of the right to eat, among other abuses。On April 10, 2023，the Chinese Communist Party authorities sentenced him to 12 years in prison and deprived him of political rights for three years, with his sentence running until March 21, 2032。He had previously been detained at the Linshu County Detention Center in Shandong Province。He appealed the verdict, but his appeal was rejected in the second instance and the original judgment was upheld。He has now been transferred to Jiangbei Prison in Hubei。Jiangbei Prison is located at No. 228 Jiangbei Avenue, Jiangling County, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, Postal Code 434110, telephone 0716-4781198。His rights in prison continue to be violated and deprived。

This outlet will continue to monitor Ding Jiaxi’s conditions in prison。