Shandong human rights defender Yang Mingyu (Yang Lin), sentenced to 8 years, spends his 58th birthday in prison

（Report by the Information Center of Rights Defense Network）On April 14, 2026， this outlet learned： today， Shandong human rights defender Yang Mingyu （Yang Lin）, who was sentenced to 8 years, spent his 58th birthday in prison。

Profile of Yang Mingyu：Born on April 14, 1968， he uses the alias Yang Lin， and is from Linqing City, Liaocheng, Shandong Province， a rights defender、 signatory of Charter 08， and Chinese political prisoner in custody。

From his twenties, he went to Shenzhen to work for a living， and in 2006 suffered injustice after a workplace accident， from then on joining groups petitioning the authorities， and as a result was once sentenced to one year in prison， subjected to one year of reeducation through labor， and administratively detained 11 times。 Having repeatedly suffered injustice and misfortune while petitioning， he came to feel deeply that pursuing democratic constitutional government was the only way out， and therefore resolutely devoted himself to advancing democratic constitutional government in China， particularly from 2012 to 2013， when he actively participated on multiple occasions in activities displaying signs demanding that officials disclose their assets、calling for citizens’ basic rights and so on； these actions ultimately aroused the authorities’ dissatisfaction and resentment， and he was consequently secretly detained by Shenzhen police from June 11 to 12, 2013；

On July 19, 2013, he was formally arrested by Shenzhen police on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power”， and held in cell 213 of the Shenzhen No. 2 Detention Center； on February 27, 2014， his case was heard at the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court； on November 24, 2015， he was ultimately sentenced by the Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court to three years in prison for the same offense， with four years’ deprivation of political rights； on June 11, 2016， he was released after completing his sentence； it is reported that during his detention he was secretly held in succession at the Futian District Detention Center and the Shenzhen No. 2 Detention Center for more than four months， where he endured torture and abuse；

On March 21, 2021， he was again criminally detained by Linqing City police in Shandong Province on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”， and in February 2023 it was learned that Yang Mingyu had been sentenced to 8 years in prison。 Sentence expiry： March 20, 2029。 He was previously detained at the Linqing City Detention Center and has now been transferred to a prison in Shandong Province to serve his sentence。 Correspondence address： Box 114, Box 210, Jinan City, Shandong Province， postal code 250100。