Yin Jiangen (尹建根), born in 1965, is a self-media writer from Zhuzhou in Hunan Province. On August 6, 2026, the Hexian County Court in Anhui Province sentenced him to two years and three months in prison for “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” a charge frequently applied to online critics and citizen journalists in mainland China. He appealed, and a second-instance hearing in September 2026 ended without a ruling.
Writing and detention. Writing under the pen name “Sunshine Under the Pen” (笔耕下的阳光), Yin published hundreds of articles on social-media public accounts that criticized and monitored village and community party secretaries, street offices, government departments, police organs, and courts. According to the rights network Weiquanwang, which reported his case in August 2026, the full set of accusations against him rested on more than 450 such articles. Born in Hunan and living in the Guihua residential community of Hetang Town, Zhuzhou, Yin had also described himself as a reporter for the legal-affairs outlet Fazhi Zaixian and as a rights defender who wrote on behalf of vulnerable petitioners and people seeking redress for grievances.
The detention followed a specific article. On August 11, 2025, Yin published a piece on his self-media platform criticizing Liu Ying, the party secretary of Liyang Town in Hexian County, Anhui. Police from Hexian County traveled across provincial lines to Zhuzhou, demanded that he delete the post, and took him away when he refused, according to Weiquanwang’s account. About twenty days later, his family and friends learned he had been criminally detained by Hexian police on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” and was being held at the Hexian County Detention Center. Weiquanwang also reported that his detention was connected to his repeated coverage of a long-running debt dispute involving Hexian petitioner Chen Dezhen, for whom Yin had written articles calling for redress.
Arrest, trial, and sentencing. On September 3, 2025, a lawyer met Yin at the detention center and, with his consent, applied for bail, a change of jurisdiction, and supervisory review of the arrest decision; all were refused. On September 15, 2025, the Hexian County Procuratorate formally approved his arrest on the “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” charge. Weiquanwang reported that during detention Yin told his lawyer he had been subjected to fatigue interrogation and pressed to confess. His case went to trial in February 2026 with no ruling announced at the hearing. On August 6, 2026, the Hexian County Court handed down the two-year-three-month sentence at first instance. His recorded term ends on November 10, 2027.
Appeal. At the appeal hearing on September 10, 2026, defense lawyer Zhang Tingyuan argued that Yin should be acquitted. The court did not announce a ruling and described the case as major and complex. Accounts published after the hearing said people who sought to observe the proceeding were denied entry despite the hearing being described as public; one account also alleged that an observer was injured in an encounter outside the court. Free China Movement has not independently verified that allegation and presents it as a reported claim. As of September 2026, the appeal judgment remained pending.