On May 16th, 2024, reports circulated online indicating that Xu Lin, a prominent internet composer and dissident from Guangdong, was taken away by the Chinese authorities.
Exiled dissident Liu Sifang posted on social media platform X: “Around 10 a.m. Beijing time on May 16th, Xu Lin, @ziyouxulin, was taken away by the state security police. In the afternoon, Xu’s wife was informed by the police that they needed to search their home. Mrs. Xu disagreed and was taken away in a police car. A large number of police officers are currently gathering downstairs at Xu’s residence.”
The images uploaded by Liu Sifang show Xu Lin’s wife expressing that the national security police from Nansha in Guangzhou, known as “Xiao Jiang,” claimed they needed to inspect Xu Lin’s home. She disagreed and requested to see her husband first. The officers stated that Xu Lin was at the police station and rejected her request, with Mrs. Xu now in a police vehicle.
Back on April 30th, Xu Lin had released a statement on social media platform X stating: “If I am arrested by the Chinese Communist Party again, I will firmly refuse legal representation, and I will not accept any designated lawyer. In today’s China, for a political prisoner like me, lawyers are of no use and only bring trouble to themselves. I have no information that needs to be conveyed by a lawyer. The only information you can trust about me is the official notification to my family saying that I am dead. Whatever the cause of my death, it is the result of persecution by the CCP…”
Prior to being illegally arrested on September 26th, 2017, Xu Lin had composed a song titled “Revealing the Truth,” which included footage of the notorious incident where Xu Chunhe from Qing’an, Heilongjiang, was beaten to death by police. Subsequently, Xu Lin was taken away from his home in Hunan by the police. The authorities also confiscated a large number of personal items from Xu Lin’s home in Guangzhou, and he was arrested on charges of “provoking troubles” and sentenced to three years in prison.
During his detention, Xu Lin refused to write a “confession” to show remorse and remained incarcerated. At one point, he went on a hunger strike to protest against the illegal actions in the detention center. In May 2018, there were reports that he was urgently sent to a hospital for treatment, as his family feared he might have been subjected to torture while in custody.
On July 27th, 2018, during a court trial, Xu Lin passionately stated: “If I am found guilty, it is not my shame but yours. I will be remembered for eternity, while you will be my accompaniment.”
On the morning of September 25th, 2020, after serving a wrongful imprisonment of three years, Xu Lin was released from prison and reunited with his wife and children.