Current custody · Region: Mainland China · Last verified: 2026-09-01
Release-date control: Current status verified: imprisoned. No definitive release/completion date is published without controlling court, prison, appellate or release evidence. Last status review: September 16, 2026.
Research status: Details pending / research in progress.
Languages: EN · 中文 · FR · DE · ES
Current custody and release / sentence-completion status
Current continuous custody start: 2020-02-15.
Sentence / judgment: On 2023-04-10, sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment for “subversion of state power.”
Release / sentence-completion date: Not independently established by a controlling court, prison, appellate, or release record. Free China does not project a future release date from sentence arithmetic.
Evidence rule: The verified custody start and 14-year sentence are recorded separately. A future completion or release date will be added only when directly supported by controlling legal, prison, appellate, or release evidence.
Last verified: 2026-09-01.
Verified profile
Xu Zhiyong is a Chinese legal scholar and activist associated with Gongmeng/Open Constitution Initiative and the New Citizens Movement. Human Rights Watch documents his public-interest work on migrant rights, education equality, asset disclosure and black jails, as well as his later New Citizens Movement leadership.
Key chronology
- Public-interest advocacy and Gongmeng civil-society work in the 2000s.
- Imprisoned after New Citizens activities during 2013–2017.
- Detained again in February 2020.
- Sentenced on April 10, 2023 to 14 years for “subversion of state power.”
Verified sources
Research still pending
Primary Gongmeng/New Citizens statements; Xu’s essays and writings; Xiamen-gathering records; indictments, judgments and appeals; health/family statements; multilingual media; speeches, interviews, video and images.
Last research audit: August 29, 2026. This page will be expanded as source verification and archival collection continue.
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