Classification: Democracy advocate and prisoner of conscience from Zigong, Sichuan. Detained since July 2022; reported held pre-trial at the Zigong City Detention Center. As of July–August 2026, still listed as detained awaiting adjudication.
Background
Jin Li (金犁), born November 1, 1970, is a democracy dissident from Zigong City, Sichuan Province. According to the Chinese mainland prisoners-of-conscience database maintained by the rights-monitoring group behind tenchu.org, he was long active in Zigong civic circles, advocating democracy and citizens’ rights; in recent years he repeatedly forwarded and promoted statements about democracy and freedom on his WeChat social feed, and took part in purchasing “farm shares” associated with the movement of the exiled businessman Guo Wengui.
Detention and arrest
On July 23, 2022, Jin Li was detained by police from the Zigong High-tech Zone Public Security Bureau on suspicion of “funding crimes endangering national security” (资助危害国家安全犯罪活动罪). On August 27, 2022, the Zigong City procuratorate approved his formal arrest on that charge plus “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” (寻衅滋事罪). His case was submitted to the Zigong City procuratorate for prosecution review. A November 2022 case bulletin from the 维权网 information center, republished by the outlet 权利运动, reports the same sequence: arrest in July 2022 by the Zigong High-tech Zone police, both charges, and the case submitted for prosecution review.
Lawyers blocked from meeting him
At the request of Jin Li’s son, Jin Zhanhao (金展浩), human-rights lawyer Bao Longjun (包龙军) and another Chengdu-based lawyer agreed to represent him. The Zigong Detention Center refused the lawyers’ requests to meet him, citing epidemic-prevention rules; the procuratorate refused to let the defense copy or photograph the case files, permitting only partial review and withholding more than twenty CDs. In May 2023, lawyers Zhao Qingshan of Chengdu and Bao Longjun of Beijing again sought to meet Jin Li at the detention center and were refused.
Status and evidentiary limits
Jin Li is classified as a current pre-trial detainee: the prisoners-of-conscience database lists his latest status as 刑拘候审 (detained pre-trial), last updated July 24, 2026, at the Zigong City Detention Center (Yongan Town, Yantan District, postal code 643030). 维权网’s August 31, 2026 monthly report (Issue 131) lists 金犁 among the prisoners of conscience in custody, in the Sichuan “detained without trial” group — consistent with the database entry. No trial date, verdict, sentence, or release date has been reported; nothing is inferred beyond the sources cited above. The exact cause classification beyond the stated charges is not specified in the sources and is not stated here.
Media Profile & Archive: Jin Li 金犁 — Media Profile & Archive