Research status: Details pending / research in progress.
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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: PROVISIONAL CALCULATION — 2034-02-14. This is not an officially confirmed release date.
Date basis: Calculated from the documented continuous-custody start, applying day-for-day pre-judgment custody credit under PRC Criminal Law Article 47. The full judgment or prison release-date confirmation is unavailable. This calculation does not endorse the sentence or limit advocacy for immediate release.
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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