On 4 February 2024, the Linyi Municipal Intermediate People’s Court in Shandong province convicted woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu for “inciting subversion of State power” and sentenced her to three years and eight months in prison, to be followed by two years of “deprivation of political rights”.

Li Qiaochu (李翘楚) is a feminist, researcher, and human rights defender who has advocated for the rights for workers, migrants, women, and human rights defenders detained in China. In December 2022, she was honoured with the Embassy Tulip award from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Beijing.

In the verdict, the court said Li Qiaochu had helped fellow human rights defender and legal scholar Xu Zhiyong to set up and maintain a blog to which articles and essays on topics such as human rights, democratic reforms, and social justice movements were uploaded. The court ruled that these writings were aimed at “subverting State power”. In April 2023, another court in Linyi convicted Xu Zhiyong for “subversion of State power” and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.

The court also defended its decision to close the trial to the public and said it did so in order to protect evidence and other information classified by the police as “State secrets”. The court also rejected Li Qiaochu’s argument that testimonies obtained while she was detained under “residential surveillance at a designated location” should be deemed inadmissible because they were provided under duress.

Front Line Defenders strongly condemns the conviction and sentencing of woman human rights defender Li Qiaochu as it believes it is solely in retaliation against her peaceful and legitimate human rights work. We call on the relevant authorities in China to promptly quash the conviction and sentence against the woman human rights defender and immediately release her. Pending her release, the authorities should ensure she has regular and timely access to adequate medical care to address on-going health issues she has been facing since her arbitrary detention began in February 2021.