Li Xiaodong （李晓东） — Media Profile & Source Archive
This archive preserves the documented media and case records concerning Li Xiaodong （李晓东）, a rights-defense petitioner from Liaoyang City’s Baita District, Liaoning Province, and a former employee of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Liaoyang. His case is documented as a labor-dispute-turned-petitioning case: a 2005 dispute over the termination of his bank employment led to nearly two decades of petitioning, multiple detentions, and, in 2024, criminal prosecution for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” （寻衅滋事罪）. He was held at the Liaoyang City Detention Center from March 2024, sentenced to two years’ imprisonment in June 2025, and released upon completing his sentence in March 2026, according to rights-monitoring records.
Case chronology
- November 2005: Liaoyang ICBC unilaterally terminates Li’s labor contract; his service record is reset; demands that he sign a “voluntary resignation” agreement; he refuses. Wages and benefits are stopped from January 2006.
- 2007–2012: Petitioning in Beijing (25 recorded visits to the Beijing ICBC); February 2008: seven-day administrative detention after approaching the bank president.
- July 4, 2012: One-year re-education through labor for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble.”
- January 7, 2024: Assaulted by Liaoyang Beijing liaison-office staff; rib fractures; injury assessment pending.
- March 1, 2024: Ten-day administrative detention ahead of the “two sessions.”
- March 18, 2024: Files complaint at the State Bureau for Letters and Calls; seized by liaison-office staff the same day.
- March 19, 2024: Criminal detention at the Liaoyang City Detention Center. March 28, 2024: Formal arrest. April 8, 2024: Lawyer visit (Li maintains innocence).
- May 24, 2024: Case transferred to the Baita District Procuratorate; charge briefly reclassified, then reverted.
- June 26, 2025: First-instance verdict: two years for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”; appeal filed.
- Late October 2025: Second-instance court rejects the appeal; verdict upheld.
- Mid-March 2026: Released upon completion of sentence.
Source records
- 民生观察 (msguancha.com) — “辽宁李晓东被涉嫌寻衅滋事罪逮捕” (April 10, 2024). Independent rights-monitoring media; original reporting. Documents the March 2024 arrest chronology, the lawyer’s April 8 visit account, the ICBC labor dispute from 2005, the 2012 re-education-through-labor term, the January 2024 assault with rib fractures, and detention conditions at the Liaoyang City Detention Center. Also publishes identity corroboration details reported by Li’s supporters (Fumin community residence, nickname “行天下”, ID fragment). Status: opened and read in full; verified as about this person. (original article)
- CHRD political-prisoner database record for 李晓东 (record entered June 14, 2025; re-fetched live October 10, 2026). Monitoring-organization prisoner database. Carries the full biographical and case chronology plus the trial-update sequence (June 2025 first-instance sentencing, October 2025 second-instance outcome, March 2026 release, citing 民生观察资料）. Status: live-fetched; the entry date (June 2025) predates events the record reports, so the record must have been updated in place — trial-update details are single-source and cited as such; identity and arrest-case fields cross-match the msguancha article anchor-for-anchor.
Consulate / official-source check
No consular or diplomatic attention to this case has been reported. No PRC court judgment or official statement naming Li Xiaodong in this case has been located. The charges, conviction, and sentence above are reported only by rights-monitoring sources, not by official judicial records.
Contradictions and gaps
- No contradiction between the two sources on identity, arrest chronology, charge, or detention facility. The charge reclassification episode (May 2024) appears only in the CHRD record.
- Trial-outcome sequence (June 2025 sentencing, October 2025 appeal rejection, March 2026 release) rests on a single database record citing 民生观察资料； no independent report or court document located.
- No information on Li’s whereabouts or circumstances after his March 2026 release.
- Contact details published by supporters in 2024 (phone, partial ID number) are not reproduced here.
See also the person profile for Li Xiaodong （李晓东）.