Hubei human rights defender Mao Shanchun, sentenced to 4 years, spends his 52nd birthday in prison

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On April 7, 2026, this website learned that today is the 52nd birthday of Hubei human rights defender Mao Shanchun, who was sentenced to 4 years and spent his birthday in prison. Mao Zengchun has long participated in resistance activities such as citizens’ observance and support actions; he was criminally detained on January 31, 2024; and was later sentenced to 4 years for the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

Profile of Mao Shanchun: Born on April 7, 1974, he is from Gong’an County, Hubei Province, a permanent resident of the Greenland Xiezi Riverside Community in Hannan District, Wuhan, an active internet user, a member of Qin Yongmin’s China Human Rights Watch team, a rights-defending citizen, a democratic dissident, and a political prisoner detained in China.

As early as 2013, Mao Shanchun, insisting on defending the dignity of the law, acting under the relevant authorization of Articles 35, 42 and 27 of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China, defending individuals’ basic human rights, supervising the government’s administration according to law, and safeguarding citizens’ lawful rights and interests, accordingly actively participated in the launching activities of China Human Rights Watch. In March of the following year, entrusted by all the initiators, he went to Beijing’s Ministry of Civil Affairs social organizations registration office to apply for registration in accordance with the law; however, after four unsuccessful registration attempts, he has since carried out activities as a member of the organization’s team;

Later, through participating in and experiencing numerous rights-defense incidents—for example, personally experiencing the Qufu, Shandong, incident (the death of Xue Fushun), the Jiansanjiang incident in Heilongjiang, observing the “three detention centers” incident in Zhengzhou, Henan, attending the trial of Zhao Fengsheng’s subversion case in Hengyang, Hunan, and the death of Zhang Liumao at the Guangzhou Detention Center, among others—his rights-defense thinking gradually matured, and he became more firmly aware that the rule of law and democracy are the foundation of social development and progress;

However, because of his firm awareness of and actions in democratic rights defense, he was subjected for a long time to harassment, illegal detention and other suppression by local authorities and police. He was also secretly beaten for no reason by an institution in Qufu City, Shandong Province, resulting in a fractured nasal bone that has still not healed;

On March 19, 2020, because he publicly issued the “Statement on Withdrawing from the Chinese Communist Party,” causing a sharp increase in online views and likes, his actions greatly displeased the local authorities;

On January 30, 2024, on the eve of the opening of the Hubei Provincial Two Sessions, he was forced to return from Wuhan to his hometown of Gong’an County for the Lunar New Year because of the government’s so-called “sensitive period.” Unexpectedly, the following day (January 31), Gong’an County police criminally detained him on suspicion of the crime of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; on March 7 of the same year, he was formally arrested on the same charge; on June 7 of the same year, the Gong’an County police transferred his case to the Gong’an County Procuratorate for review and prosecution; on August 28, 2024, his case for picking quarrels and provoking trouble was heard by the Gong’an County Court in Hubei Province, and it was later learned that he was sentenced at first instance to 4 years, with his sentence running until January 29, 2028;

It is reported that he often suffered mental torment inside the detention center, each time lasting one hour or more; after he was arrested, state-security police threatened his family, saying that he was suspected of crimes including subversion of state power. After hearing this, his father was overcome with grief and anger and unfortunately passed away. Mao Shanchun was previously detained at the Gong’an County Detention Center in Hubei Province, then transferred to Guanghua Prison, and later transferred again to Fanjiatai Prison in Shayang, Hubei Province (Hongling Avenue, Shayang County, Jingmen City).