(Beijing – February 23, 2024) Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan have been detained for nearly ten months on charges. In an unusual occurrence, it has been confirmed that they have recently been transferred from Beijing to Suzhou for detention. Their case has been transferred to Suzhou for review and prosecution.
Human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan had been living in Beijing before their arrest, and they hold hukou, or household registration, in Beijing. In April of last year, the couple was invited to meet with the EU Delegation to China. On their way there, they were intercepted and summoned by the public security officers. Subsequently, they were criminally detained by the Shijingshan Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.” Later, both of them were additionally charged with “inciting subversion of state power” and have been held in custody at the detention center in the same district since then.
It has now been confirmed that, in an unusual occurrence, Mr. Yu Wensheng and his wife were transferred from Beijing to Suzhou, Jiangsu Province on January 5 this year.
China Human Rights Lawyer Watch stated in a brief statement that during the illegal detention period in Beijing, the investigation stage had ended and the case had been transferred to the procuratorate for review and prosecution. It is extremely rare for the place of detention to be changed across provinces like this, and this method should be seen as another innovation in the so-called official “legal” persecution of political dissidents.
Lawyer Wang Yu revealed that Yu Wensheng is detained in the first detention center of Suzhou, while Xu Yan is detained in the fourth detention center of Suzhou. It is said that the cases of both individuals have been transferred to the procuratorate of Suzhou City, indicating that the investigation stage should have ended and the prosecution stage should be underway.
It is understood that both individuals have met with their defense lawyers in Suzhou.
Yu Wensheng previously published “A Citizen’s Proposal to Amend the Constitution” in 2018. He was one of the defense attorneys in the prominent “709 Crackdown” case, which involved the widespread arrest, summons, criminal detention, abduction, disappearance, and interrogation of hundreds of lawyers, civil rights activists, petitioners, and their relatives across 23 provinces. Some individuals involved in the case remain missing. In 2020, Yu Wensheng was convicted of “inciting subversion” and sentenced to four years in prison. He was released upon completing his sentence in 2023.
During his imprisonment, Yu Wensheng’s wife, Xu Yan, provided steadfast support to him. Xu Yan alone met with approximately 18 foreign diplomats, appealing for international support. Prior to their arrest, Xu Yan and Yu Wensheng expressed solidarity with human rights lawyers Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, who were sentenced to heavy prison terms, stating, “We believe that a better future for China will surely be realized.”
In response to God’s calling, Yu Wensheng and his wife were baptized in their home in Beijing. After their arrest in April last year, their son, Yu Zhenyang, was subjected to immense psychological pressure, and it’s reported that in November last year, he was hospitalized in Beijing after overdosing on medication. Before being transferred to Jiangsu, during his first meeting with defense counsel in Beijing, Yu Wensheng expressed that he had resolved himself to the situation, the only exception being his concerns for his son. His lawyer, He Wei, mentioned that when Yu Wensheng spoke about his son, he “struggled to pull up his handcuffed hands and proceeded to wipe the corners of his eyes lightly with his cuffs.”
Yu Wensheng was the recipient of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in 2021. The imprisonment of Yu Wensheng and his wife has garnered strong international attention. This is not a matter of weighing interests, it is a battle of conscience.
