Person profile: 上官云开 / Shangguan Yunkai
This archive collects the published records documenting the case of 上官云开 (Shangguan Yunkai), an investigative journalist from Hubei sentenced in 2024 to an effective eleven years in prison. Sources are graded; facts are presented as reported, not as independently verified findings.
Case chronology
- April 20, 2023 — Seized by Ezhou police in Wuhan; criminal detention begins on suspicion of selling counterfeit medicines. Lawyers’ meeting requests refused.
- January 5, 2024 — The Echeng District People’s Court in Ezhou convicts on five charges and sentences him to a combined 15 years plus a 380,000-yuan fine; he appeals.
- June 2024 — The Ezhou Intermediate People’s Court reduces the sentence to 11 years and the fine to 340,000 yuan; he is transferred to Huangshi Prison.
- August 31, 2026 — Listed as an in-custody political prisoner in the “Sentenced to 11 years, 7 people” group of the Rights Defense Network monthly report.
Published source records
- Dui Hua Foundation (recognized human-rights NGO), “Prisoner Updates 2024 #1” (January 2024) — identifies 上官云开 / Shangguan Yunkai as an independent investigative journalist and former Legal Daily reporter in Hubei; records the January 5, 2024 combined 15-year sentence, the detention and arrest dates, the five convictions, and the April 19, 2038 first-instance expiry. Opened and read in full. Original article.
- Rights Defense Network (维权网) (rights monitoring organization), “一审获刑15年的湖北反腐记者上官云开案二审改判为11年，已转监黄石监狱服刑” (September 10, 2024) — reports the second-instance reduction: 11 years, 340,000-yuan fine, June 2024 judgment, transfer to Huangshi Prison; recaps the April 2023 detention, his public accounts and corruption reporting, the five first-instance charges, and his background. Opened and read in full. Original article.
- CIVICUS Monitor (established civil-society monitoring organization), “China: Activists and journalists face arrests and convictions despite UN human rights review” — corroborates the January 5, 2024 15-year sentence in Ezhou and records activists’ view that the prosecution was likely political retaliation for his corruption reporting. Opened and read in full. Original article.
- Chinese Human Rights Defenders — Prisoners of Conscience database (recognized human-rights NGO), individual record for 上官云开 / “Shangguan Yunkai” — confirms the journalist’s identity and records the 11-year second-instance sentence with a term to April 19, 2034 and detention at Huangshi Prison; notes the 15-year first-instance verdict, the appeal, and the June 2024 reduction. Database search page.
- Rights Defense Network (维权网), Issue 131 monthly in-custody report, August 31, 2026 — lists 上官云开 7th of 7 in the 11-year sentence group, classified in custody.
Disambiguation record (do not merge)
The six 11-year roster-group neighbors — 阿布拉江·阿乌提, 吴文章, 孙志芬, 王素平, 吴成收, 刘庆 — are a statistical cohort, separate persons. The site’s Wu Wenzhang media archive concerns a different Wu Wenzhang case and is not evidence for this person.
Evidentiary limitations
No official court docket or state-media coverage of either the first- or second-instance verdict has been located in open sources. The political-retaliation framing is the stated belief of colleagues and activists, not a judicial finding. The detention-day detail differs by source — April 20 (seizure, CHRD) versus April 21, 2023 (formal criminal detention, Dui Hua) — and is recorded as reported. No consular or diplomatic dimension applies.
Person profile: 上官云开 (Shangguan Yunkai)