Liu Yao (刘尧), born February 18, 1962, is a former rights-defense lawyer from Guangdong who was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2017 after years of land-rights and anti-corruption advocacy.
CECC records Liu’s earlier work as a Shenzhen rights lawyer representing villagers in a Dongyuan County land dispute. He was detained in December 2007, initially sentenced to four years for intentional destruction of property, and ultimately released on April 16, 2009 after the final appeal reduced the term to 18 months suspended for two years.
Human Rights in China and Chinese Human Rights Defenders report that Liu later continued anti-corruption advocacy in Heyuan. In 2015 he published allegations concerning local officials and reported them to the Guangdong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection.
On December 26, 2015, Liu was taken into custody and placed under residential surveillance at a designated location. CHRD and HRIC report that his lawyers alleged mistreatment during that period. He was formally arrested on June 24, 2016.
On April 24, 2017, the Yuancheng District People’s Court of Heyuan sentenced Liu to 20 years in prison and fined him 1.4 million yuan for extortion, fraud, and buying trafficked children. Human-rights organizations and Liu’s lawyers disputed the prosecution’s characterization of the underlying conduct and described the case as retaliation for his anti-corruption activity; that interpretation remains attributed to those sources.
Liu appealed. On August 10, 2017, the Heyuan Intermediate People’s Court upheld the sentence without a hearing. He was transferred to Yangchun Prison on September 19, 2017.
Status: last verified in March 2018 at Yangchun Prison with access to lawyers. No verified public information about his circumstances after March 2018 was located, so current status is unknown.
Sources: CHRD, September 27, 2017; Human Rights in China case summary; CECC, 2009.