Full Text of the First-Instance Judgment in the Case of Ms. Guan Xiaoyan, a Human Rights Defender from Jimo District, Qingdao, Shandong, Sentenced to Four Years in Prison

Criminal Judgment of the People’s Court of Jimo District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province

（2023）鲁0215刑初631号

Public Prosecution Authority: People’s Procuratorate of Jimo District, Qingdao City, Shandong Province

Defendant Guan Xiaoyan， female， Han Chinese， born in Qingdao City， Shandong Province， on March 27， 1966。 Chinese citizen identity card number 37022219660327532X， university education。 She was a retired teacher at the Shanshi Experimental School in Jimo District， Qingdao City。 Her registered residence is at No. 70 Wenhua Road， Education Commission， Lanchun Subdistrict， Jimo District， Qingdao City， and her place of residence is in Unit *， Building *， * Household， Xinxing Central City Community， Longshan Subdistrict， Jimo District， Qingdao City。 On September 24， 2021， she was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location by the Chengyang Branch of the Qingdao Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble， on March 25， 2022， she was placed under residential surveillance at a designated location by the People’s Procuratorate of Chengyang District， Qingdao City， and on September 23 of the same year she was released on bail pending trial。 On June 22， 2023， she was criminally detained by the Jimo Branch of the Qingdao Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble， and on July 8 of the same year she was arrested。 She is currently detained at the Second Detention Center of Qingdao City， Shandong Province。

Defense counsel Hou Liang and Zhang Wenjing， lawyers at Shandong Chenggong (Laoshan) Law Firm。

The People’s Procuratorate of Jimo District， Qingdao City， Shandong Province filed a public prosecution with this court against defendant Guan Xiaoyan on charges of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and obstructing official duties under indictment Qing Jimo Procuratorate Criminal Prosecution (2023) No. Z10。 After accepting the case， this court formed a collegial panel and conducted a public trial under ordinary procedures， with Prosecutor Zhang Xiaodong designated by the People’s Procuratorate of Jimo District， Qingdao City， Shandong Province to appear in court to support the prosecution， and defendant Guan Xiaoyan and her defense counsel Hou Liang and Zhang Wenjing appearing in court to participate in the proceedings， which have now concluded。

Prosecution’s allegations

（1）Facts concerning picking quarrels and provoking trouble

In April 2018， Jimo District， Qingdao City， Shandong Province initiated demolition work in the eastern part of the central urban area， and defendant Guan Xiaoyan and her husband had a bungalow residence in the demolition area， whereupon they put forward unreasonable demands such as seeking a large amount of compensation calculated at the price of a villa。 In order to put pressure on the government， Guan Xiaoyan fabricated false information on information networks， or disseminated false information on information networks while knowing it to have been fabricated， inciting disturbances and causing trouble， with the cumulative membership of the WeChat groups in which she posted information exceeding 50,000， more than 80,000 views， and more than 2,000 comments， thereby causing serious disorder in public order。

（2）Facts concerning obstructing official duties

On January 1， 2021， police officers Wang Junqing and Huang Shengxue of the Development Zone Police Station of the Jimo Branch of the Qingdao Municipal Public Security Bureau went lawfully to No. 246， Zhangjia Yanxia Village， Jimo District， Qingdao City， where defendant Guan Xiaoyan resided， carrying a summons and summoning her on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble。 During the summons， the police displayed their credentials and explained the reason for the summons， and repeatedly asked her to open the door and cooperate， but Guan Xiaoyan refused to cooperate， waving an ax inside the house and saying“If you come in, I’ll chop you to death”， thereby verbally threatening the police， after repeated efforts to dissuade her proved unsuccessful， police officer Wang Junqing entered and took the ax away， and he and Huang Shengxue restrained Guan Xiaoyan and took her away。

The public prosecution authority maintained that defendant Guan Xiaoyan fabricated false information and disseminated it on information networks， inciting disturbances and causing trouble and seriously disrupting public order， and obstructed people’s police officers from lawfully performing their duties by means of threats， thereby violating Article 293 Paragraph 1 and Article 277 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China， and that she should be held criminally liable for the crimes of picking quarrels and provoking trouble and obstructing official duties。 It also submitted documentary evidence， witness testimony， the defendant’s statements and defenses， and other evidence to substantiate the charges。

Defendant Guan Xiaoyan did not dispute the facts alleged but did not acknowledge the charges， maintaining that she had not committed a crime。 The main defense opinions of her counsel were: 1. Guan Xiaoyan herself had deviations in her understanding， making it difficult for her to distinguish the truth or falsity of outside information; she believed that the information she posted was correct and did not intentionally fabricate false information； 2. Guan Xiaoyan posted information in specific WeChat groups， which did not reach the level of seriously disrupting public order； 3. Regarding the charge of obstructing official duties， the case officers were not dressed in accordance with regulations; Guan Xiaoyan merely picked up an ax and waved it briefly at home， did not cause bodily injury to the case officers， and was ultimately summoned to appear， so the conduct did not reach the level of obstructing official duties。

After trial， the court found as follows：

（1）Facts concerning picking quarrels and provoking trouble

In April 2018， Jimo District， Qingdao City， Shandong Province initiated demolition work in the eastern area of the central urban district， and defendant Guan Xiaoyan and her husband had a bungalow residence within the demolition area， whereupon they put forward unreasonable demands such as seeking a large amount of compensation calculated at the price of a villa。 In order to put pressure on the government， from July 2019 to June 2023 Guan Xiaoyan continuously fabricated false information on information networks， or disseminated false information on information networks while knowing it to have been fabricated。 It was found that the cumulative membership of the WeChat groups in which she posted information exceeded 46,000， with more than 80,000 views and more than 2,000 comments。

（2）Facts concerning obstructing official duties

On January 1， 2021， police officers Wang Junqing and Huang Shengxue of the Development Zone Police Station of the Jimo Branch of the Qingdao Municipal Public Security Bureau went lawfully to No. 246， Zhangjia Yanxia Village， Jimo District， Qingdao City， where defendant Guan Xiaoyan resided， carrying a summons and summoning her on suspicion of picking quarrels and provoking trouble。 During the summons， the police displayed their credentials and explained the reason for the summons， and repeatedly asked her to open the door and cooperate， but Guan Xiaoyan refused to cooperate， waving an ax inside the house and saying“If you come in, I’ll chop you to death”， thereby verbally threatening the police， after repeated efforts to dissuade her proved unsuccessful， police officer Wang Junqing forcibly entered and took the ax away， and together with Huang Shengxue restrained Guan Xiaoyan and took her away。

It was additionally found that defendant Guan Xiaoyan was apprehended and brought in on June 21， 2023， and after being brought in truthfully confessed to the main facts。

The above facts are supported by evidence admitted into the record and verified in court， including the case-reception registration form， decision to open a case， certificate of apprehension， screenshots of WeChat chat records， petition-handling materials issued by the Letters and Calls Bureau of Jimo District， Qingdao City， concerning the handling of Guan Xiaoyan’s petition matter， household registration certification and other documentary evidence， testimony from witnesses Fan Xianwu， Li Shimin， Liu Meili， Bi Zhilan and Zhao Benmei， search records， decision on seizure， seizure inventory， audiovisual materials， electronic data， electronic evidence examination work records， electronic inspection records， and defendant Guan Xiaoyan’s statements and defenses， which are sufficient to establish them。

Regarding the opinions of both the prosecution and the defense， based on the facts， evidence and legal provisions in this case， this court holds as follows：

1. Regarding the grounds for defendant Guan Xiaoyan’s defense and the defense opinions submitted by her counsel that she did not constitute the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble， upon examination， Guan Xiaoyan took advantage of the broad reach and strong dissemination power of information networks to fabricate or repost false information online， confuse the public and incite the masses， thereby creating an impact and putting pressure on the government， with the intention of satisfying her unreasonable petition demands。 Her dissemination of false information continued for a long period， involved many participants and had a broad scope of influence， and had already caused serious disorder in public order， meeting the constituent elements of the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble， and therefore these grounds for defense and defense opinions are not accepted。

2. Regarding the grounds for defendant Guan Xiaoyan’s defense and the defense opinions submitted by her counsel that she did not constitute the crime of obstructing official duties， upon examination， when the police went to Guan Xiaoyan’s home to lawfully summon her， they displayed their police identification and summons and informed her of the reason for the summons， but Guan Xiaoyan refused to cooperate and verbally threatened the police while holding an ax， thereby obstructing state personnel from lawfully performing their duties。 Her conduct constituted the crime of obstructing official duties， and therefore these grounds for defense and defense opinions are not accepted。

This court holds that defendant Guan Xiaoyan fabricated false information or disseminated false information on information networks while knowing it to have been fabricated， inciting disturbances and causing trouble and seriously disrupting public order， and that her conduct constituted the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble; by obstructing state personnel from lawfully performing their duties by means of threats， her conduct constituted the crime of obstructing official duties。 Guan Xiaoyan committed multiple crimes and shall be punished cumulatively in accordance with the law。 The facts and charges alleged by the public prosecution authority are established， and this court supports them。 In conclusion， pursuant to Article 293 Paragraph 1， Article 277 Paragraph 1， Article 69 and Article 47 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China， and Article 5 of the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases Involving the Use of Information Networks to Commit Defamation and Other Offenses， the judgment is as follows：

Defendant Guan Xiaoyan is sentenced to three years and six months’ imprisonment for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble; she is sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment for the crime of obstructing official duties; and the sentence to be served is determined as four years’ imprisonment。

（The term of imprisonment shall be calculated from the date on which the judgment is enforced; any period of detention prior to enforcement of the judgment shall count toward the sentence on a day-for-day basis, and every two days of residential surveillance at a designated location shall count as one day toward the sentence, namely from June 22, 2023, to December 20, 2026.）

If dissatisfied with this judgment， an appeal may be filed within ten days from the second day after receiving the judgment through this court or directly with the Intermediate People’s Court of Qingdao City， Shandong Province; for a written appeal， one original and two copies of the appeal petition shall be submitted。

Presiding Judge  Zhang Haojie

Judge  Jiang Bing

Judge  Jiang Yulin

February 6, 2026

Clerk Fang Yuhan

Clerk Xu Yi