On December 29, Qin Yongpei, a prominent Christian human rights lawyer from Guangxi, China, appealed his case, he was charged with “inciting subversion of state power.” Guangxi Higher People’s Court upheld his five-year prison sentence from the court of the first instance. The lawyer’s defense was not accepted at all.

“This is the maximum sentence that can be found for this crime,” Qin Yongpei’s defense lawyer Cheng Hai said. Qin Yongpei’s sentence is until October 30, 2024.

Lawyer Cheng Hai expressed: As a defendant who is not pleading guilty or with the opinion that the sentence is excessive, he was completely ignored; it is very regretful. Qin Yongpei’s wife, Deng Xiaoyun, has not made any further comments on the case. This may be related to previous warnings received from the police.

The court’s so-called criminal charges against him primarily stem from Qin Yongpei expressing dissatisfaction and criticism on widely-used Chinese social media platforms like WeChat and Twitter (now referred to as X). These expressions include opinions on pervasive corruption of government officials, lack of freedom of speech, as well as dissatisfaction and criticism of authoritarianism. He also shared complaints regarding illegal circumstances surrounding public security, procuratorial, and judicial personnel while processing his case.

Qin Yongpei exercised his freedom of speech granted by the law and his legitimate right to supervise and criticize. However, he was unlawfully treated as a criminal. Chinese judicial officials knowingly prosecuted him despite his innocence, engaging in a miscarriage of justice for personal gain.

Lawyer Qin Yongpei has been practicing law for over a decade, representing cases involving illegal administrative detention, industrial pollution, forced demolitions, and wrongful convictions. He is the founder of the Guangxi Baijuming Law Firm, where several human rights lawyers in Guangxi have worked. In the nationwide “709 Crackdown” in 2015, he was briefly taken for interrogation and ultimately had his lawyer license revoked.

After the incident, Qin Yongpei initiated a rights defense lawyer alliance called the “Disbarred Chinese Lawyers Club.” However, Beijing authorities deemed it an illegal organization. Lawyer Qin publicly offered rewards to collect evidence of crimes by the heads of the judicial department and public security bureau of Guangxi. He also publicly accused the former Minister of Justice, Fu Zhenghua. Qin frequently commented on national policies and actions on online platforms, including instances of officials abusing power and violating human rights. Due to his online criticisms of the government, several of his social media accounts were closed.

On October 31, 2019, Qin Yongpei was arrested by the local police in Nanning City, China, and subsequently held in prolonged detention. In March of the following year, the Guangxi Nanning Intermediate People’s Court sentenced human rights lawyer Qin Yongpei to 5 years in prison for the charge of “inciting subversion of state power” and deprived him of political rights for 3 years.

During Qin Yongpei’s detention, his wife Deng Xiaoyun, and their family from April 14 to 16, 2020 were subjected to harassment from the police. When his elderly mother passed away, Qin Yongpei was not allowed to attend the funeral, causing him to have an emotional breakdown.

Currently, he is being held at the second detention center of the Guangxi Autonomous Region. Unless there are outstanding circumstances, he will be transferred to prison and will stay there until his release.