Renowned Artist Gao Zhen Sentenced to 3 Years by Sanhe City Court in Hebei for Infringing the Reputation of Heroes and Martyrs

On August 25, 2026, this website learned that renowned artist Gao Zhen was sentenced to three years in prison this morning by the Sanhe City Court in Hebei Province for infringing the reputation of heroes and martyrs. Gao Zhen’s third elder brother and fifth younger brother were permitted to attend the hearing today, while the attendance of representatives sent by the U.S. Embassy was refused.

On August 26, 2024, renowned artist Gao Zhen (the elder brother of the Gao brothers) was criminally detained on suspicion of infringing the reputation of heroes and martyrs when he returned to China to visit relatives. He was subsequently formally arrested and prosecuted. On December 14, 2025, the application for bail pending trial submitted by Gao Zhen’s lawyers was rejected, and the procuratorate recommended a three-year sentence. The case was heard behind closed doors at the Sanhe City Court on March 30, 2026; authorities did not allow family members to attend, and no verdict was issued. He was sentenced today to three years in prison, with his sentence running until August 25, 2027.

After Gao Zhen was arrested, the writer Ma Jian, who lives in the United Kingdom, launched a global petition in support of him, calling on the authorities to release Gao Zhen immediately. The petition has received the signatures and support of nearly 200 writers and artists. His wife is still subject to border-control restrictions and, for the alleged reason of involvement in “national security,” is unable to leave China. Their seven-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, is still unable to return to New York to attend school.

Gao Zhen: Born on May 10, 1956, a native of Jinan, Shandong Province; renowned Chinese sculptor, scholar living in the United States, dissident, and Chinese political prisoner.

Early on, because the Gao family suffered devastation during China’s Cultural Revolution, and because his father was persecuted to death in 1968, at the height of the “Cultural Revolution,” a deep shadow was cast over the young minds of the two brothers. After the launch of reform and opening up, he and his younger brother Gao Qiang (known as the “Gao brothers”) gradually became two of China’s most renowned artists. Their political views left a firm and clear imprint on their works. Beginning in 1985, the Gao brothers began working together, devoting themselves to painting, installation, performance, photography, and other artistic activities. However, because their sculptures and paintings often addressed sensitive political issues, although the two brothers believed that they were merely expressing their views of society in the course of making art, their work touched a sensitive nerve of the Chinese Communist authorities. In February 1989, after signing an open letter from Fang Lizhi to Deng Xiaoping while taking part in an art exhibition in Beijing, they were monitored by the Chinese Communist authorities as political dissidents. As a result, the two brothers were subjected to border-control restrictions whenever they attempted to travel abroad from 1989 to 2003, and the restrictions were not lifted until 2004. Since Xi Jinping took power in 2012, the authorities have continually strengthened controls on the speech of domestic dissidents and public intellectuals. In particular, after the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the Chinese Communist Party passed the Law on the Protection of Heroes and Martyrs in April 2018 (which sought to pursue the legal liability of citizens who insulted or defamed the names, portraits, reputations, and other aspects of heroes and martyrs, and which took effect on May 1 of the same year), the two brothers became targets that the authorities needed to crack down on forcefully because of sculptures they had created together over many years, including Execution of Christ, the Miss Mao Series, and Kneeling Mao Confessing.

On August 26, 2024, after he returned to China to visit relatives, he was taken away from his personal studio in Yanjiao and criminally detained by police in Sanhe, Langfang City, Hebei Province, on suspicion of “infringing the reputation and honor of heroes and martyrs”; he has been out of contact ever since. His wife and child were subsequently barred from leaving the country as a result of being implicated, while police obstructed the family’s efforts to seek assistance from the U.S. Embassy in China. His works, property, and studio were all sealed off, while his friends and those who helped him were silenced or forced to write letters of guarantee. On October 7 of the same year, an artist colleague and friend, when interviewed by the media, reportedly said that he had likely been formally arrested by the procuratorate. His case was subsequently prosecuted by the local Sanhe City Procuratorate and transferred to the Sanhe City Court for review, with a recommended sentence of three years. On August 16, 2025, it was learned that his case was about to go to trial, but the hearing was repeatedly postponed. On March 30, 2026, his case was formally tried behind closed doors at the Sanhe City Court; requests by family members and EU representatives to attend were rejected. His case has attracted international attention, with the Human Rights Foundation, Amnesty International, and a joint petition signed by more than 20,000 people all calling on the Chinese government to release him. On the morning of August 25, 2026, Gao Zhen was sentenced to three years in prison by the Sanhe City Court in Hebei Province for infringing the reputation of heroes and martyrs, with his sentence running until August 25, 2027.

He is currently being held at the Sanhe City Detention Center (west of Gaogezhuang Village, Juyang Town, Sanhe City, Langfang City, Hebei Province; postal code: 065201).

This website will continue to follow Mr. Gao Zhen’s situation.