Hunan Zhuzhou self-media writer Yin Jiangen, sentenced to 2 years and 3 months, transferred to Anhui Fuyang Prison to serve his sentence

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On November 1, 2026, this outlet learned that Yin Jiangen, a self-media writer from Zhuzhou, Hunan, has long followed public livelihood issues and written in support of rights defenders. On August 11, 2025, after he published an article criticizing the Party secretary of Liyang Town in Hexian County, Anhui Province, Hexian police traveled across provincial borders to arrest him in Zhuzhou, Hunan. On August 6, 2026, the Hexian County Court in Anhui Province sentenced him at first instance to 2 years and 3 months for picking quarrels and provoking trouble. Yin Jiangen appealed the first-instance ruling in accordance with the law; the second-instance court upheld the original judgment.

On October 23, 2026, Yin Jiangen was transferred to Anhui Fuyang Prison to serve his sentence.

Yin Jiangen’s background: Born in 1965, he is from Hunan Province and lives in the Guihua residential community in Hetang Town, Zhuzhou. He is a self-media writer, a Weibo public-account blogger using the name “Sunshine Beneath the Plow,” a reporter for Legal Online, a rights-defending citizen, and a political prisoner held in China.

Because he is upright by nature and has long been committed to following issues affecting ordinary people’s livelihoods, and with the emergence and development of Generation Z (also known as the “Internet-native generation” and the “internet generation”), he began creating self-media platforms to expose current ills and often wrote articles speaking out for many vulnerable groups seeking help with rights protection;

On August 11, 2025, because he posted an article on a self-media platform titled “Hexian, Anhui, Sees a Return of Shandong Pingdu’s ‘Secretary Wang Li Version’; Secretary Liu Ying Is ‘Even Better’ by Comparison,” which contained critical remarks about Liu Ying, Party secretary of Liyang Town, Hexian County, Anhui Province, police from Hexian County, Ma’anshan City, Anhui Province, traveled across provincial borders to the residential community where he lived in Zhuzhou, Hunan Province, and forcibly demanded that he delete the post; he refused, after which Hexian police took him away and he could not be reached; after making inquiries through various channels, his family and friends (including concerned internet users) finally learned 20 days later that he had been criminally detained by Hexian police in Ma’anshan City on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and was being held at the Hexian Detention Center;

It is said that his arrest was connected to his repeated online articles under the pen name “Sunshine Beneath the Plow” reporting on the “rights defense campaign over the Second Brick Kiln’s unpaid brick bill” involving Hexian County, Anhui, petitioner Chen Dezhen, and speaking out in support of Chen’s case; Chen had originally been a law-abiding farmer in Hexian County, Anhui, and had a debt dispute in 1995 over 90,000 red bricks with the local Second Brick Kiln, but the local Liyang Town government unlawfully transferred the creditor’s rights to a rubber company, forcing Chen to pursue rights protection for a long time; in 2021, Chen finally reached a brick-payment compensation agreement with the local town government, but the government later reneged and did not pay, so Chen 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 placed in administrative detention by police for 18 days; deeply saddened and angered by the injustice of Chen’s treatment, Yin wrote to help him and call for support, but this led to pressure and warnings from the authorities in Hexian County, Anhui, where Chen lives;

On September 3, 2025, his lawyer met with him at the Hexian Detention Center and, with his consent, submitted to the police and the local procuratorate an application for release on bail pending trial, an application to request designation of jurisdiction, and an application for supervision of the non-arrest decision; all were rejected; on September 15, 2025, the Hexian County Procuratorate in Anhui formally approved his arrest on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” During his detention, after reviewing the case file at the Hexian County Procuratorate, his lawyer met with him; Yin said that investigators had subjected him to prolonged interrogations and demanded that he confess. In mid-December 2025, the case was transferred to the Hexian County Procuratorate for review and prosecution. After learning of these circumstances, dozens of internet users launched a joint-signature campaign and wrote to the Hexian County People’s Procuratorate, asking it to conduct a strict, independent, objective, and impartial review in accordance with the law and to decide not to prosecute him. Hunan Zhuzhou self-media writer Yin Jiangen Yin Jiangen was sentenced at first instance by the Hexian County Court in Anhui Province on August 6, 2026, to 2 years and 3 months. He appealed the first-instance ruling; the second-instance court upheld the original judgment. He had previously been held at the Hexian County Detention Center in Anhui Province. On October 23, 2026, Yin Jiangen was transferred to Anhui Fuyang Prison to serve his sentence. Sentence ends: November 10, 2027.