Hunan Zhuzhou self-media person Yin Jiangen, who runs the public account “Sunshine under the Pen”, was apprehended across provinces for publishing an article critiquing Liu Ying, the secretary of the Party Committee of Liyang Town, Anhui. Recent reports revealed that he is currently being detained in Hexiong County. On September 4th, a lawyer has met with him.
According to the lawyer’s briefing, “On the morning of September 4th, in the detention center of Hexiong County, Anhui, I met with Hunan self-media person Yin Jiangen, who had been missing for several days. He told me that on August 11th, he was taken from Zhuzhou, Hunan to Hexiong County by the public security of Ma’anshan, Anhui because of a critical online article regarding Liu Ying, the secretary of Liyang Town Party Committee. After refusing to delete the post upon request, he was detained in Hexiong County on charges of ‘provoking trouble’.”
The briefing stated, “After obtaining Yin Jiangen’s consent, in the morning, we went to the public security case-handling unit to submit a request for release on bail and filed a supervision request for non-arrest at the procuratorate.”
In the bail application, the lawyer wrote, “Based on the information obtained during the meeting, the defense believes that the accusation of Yin Jiangen for provoking trouble does not hold, his online posting does not constitute a crime, and considering that Yin Jiangen has no previous criminal record, poses no social harm, and will not pose a risk to society even if released on bail pending trial. He meets the conditions for release on bail as stipulated in Article 67 of the Criminal Procedure Law and relevant regulations issued by the Supreme People’s Court and Supreme People’s Procuratorate in September 2022.”
Yin Jiangen was previously a journalist for “Rule of Law Online” and considered himself a devout media professional committed to faith, using his pen to document life. Due to his long-standing work in safeguarding the rights of the grassroots population, he was regarded as a hero by the marginalized. Recently, he disappeared from the public eye after posting on Weibo, “False police reports leading to the sentencing of innocent individuals! Liu Ying, how long can you continue your tyranny?”.
His disappearance raised concerns among self-media personnel and rights activists who have received his support, leading to the hiring of lawyers on his behalf. Some internet users even called for groups to search for Yin Jiangen nationwide.
The public account “Law-Enriched Reading” stated, “The female official mentioned in Yin’s article holds a low position, merely a female town Party Committee secretary, lacking significant power or judicial authority. So the question arises, who has empowered them to act wantonly and abuse their authority to oppress critics for merely publishing a critical article!”
“The Constitution stipulates the right of citizens to criticize. If a few critical remarks prompt the use of state power to imprison the critic or conduct a cross-province arrest, exposing individuals, such lawless and blatant illegal actions undermine the foundation of the rule of law in a country!”
Netizen Yue Liang remarked, “As long as what is written is based on facts, it cannot constitute a crime. Liu Ying, fearing the impact of the article, has backdoor connections in the county, exploiting the police to retaliate against Yin’s journalism. This is their goal – a political struggle where those with power can wrangle individuals at will!”
Self-media person “Yi Fan” expressed, “If Secretary Liu of Liyang Town had objections to Yin’s article, she should have faced him openly in court. Instead, she chose the despicable means of using state power to retaliate, which blatantly violates the law with impunity! As a Party member and cadre, Secretary Liu did not set a good example. Instead, she blatantly abused her authority, instructing the police to pressure the self-media personnel, which may constitute abuse of power under Article 397 of the Criminal Law, a brazen challenge to the rule of law!”
The reason for Yin Jiangen’s cross-province arrest was his discovery of the case where Chen Dezhen, a petitioning resident of Liyang Town, Anhui, was falsely reported to the police and sentenced to one year in prison by Liu Ying, the secretary of the town’s Party Committee, after Yin wrote an article criticizing Liu for it.
In a dispute over a 90,000 yuan red brick debt at the Eryao Factory in Anhui Province’s Hexiong County in 1995, Chen Dezhen was misled by the local government when seeking justice. In 2021, the two parties finally reached an agreement for specific compensation, but Liu Ying altered it to a “relocation advance payment” agreement and refused to pay the final installment. Chen’s compensation was embezzled by the government, leading her to embark on a path of rights protection and petitioning.
In 2022, Chen Dezhen went to Beijing to petition, and the local government asked her to return to address the issue, promising to reimburse her for transportation costs totaling 6160 yuan as agreed upon by the village party secretary and the government. However, Liu Ying reported to the police that Chen Dezhen forcibly demanded the money, leading to her one-year sentence. This was the so-called “Liu Ying False Police Report” incident. Shortly after her release, Chen Dezhen took to Weibo to protest, claiming Liu Ying made a false police report, only to be detained for 18 days.