Gao Zhisheng

Brief Bio

1. Family name: Gao

2. First name: Zhisheng

3. Sex:  Male

4. Birth date or age (at the time of detention): 42, born in 1964

5. Nationality/Nationalities:  People＊s Republic of China

6. (a) Identity document (if any): Identification Card

 (b) Issued by:  Kashi City Public Security Bureau, Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region 

7. Profession and/or activity (if believed to be relevant to the arrest/detention):
Criminal defense lawyer.  Mr. Gao represented defendants in sensitive cases involving alleged violations of human rights, such as torture of members of the Falun Gong and Christian house church leaders, as well as arbitrary detention of petitioners seeking official accountability for corruption and neglect.  He also represented defendants in cases involving freedom of speech and the press, etc.

8. Address of usual residence: 

Building 11, Unit 7, Apartment 201

Xiaoguan Beili

Chaoyang District, Beijing

Mr. Gao's Arrest

1. Date of arrest:  August 15, 2006

2. Place of arrest (as detailed as possible):
Mr. Gao was arrested in his sister＊s home when visiting Dongying City, Shandong Province.

3. Forces who carried out the arrest or are believed to have carried it out:

State Security Unit, Beijing City Public Security Bureau

4. Did they show a warrant or other decision by a public authority?

Not at the time of the arrest; only later, on October 12, 2006, his lawyer was informed that Mr. Gao was formally arrested and charged with "inciting subvertion against the state."

5. Authority who issued the warrant or decision:
Unknown since no arrest warrant has ever been shown to his family or lawyer, but, if there is such a warrant, it should be issued by the Beijing Municipal Procuratorate.

6. Relevant legislation applied (if known):
Unknown since authorities did not show an arrest warrant or provide any legal basis for arresting him.  However, authorities might apply the PRC Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Law.

Mr. Gao's Detention

1. Date of detention: August 18, 2006 (as reported by the official Xinhua news agency)  

2. Duration of detention (if not known, probable duration): Aug. 18, 2006 to December 22, 2006

3. Forces holding the detainee under custody:
Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.  

4. Places of detention (indicate any transfer and present place of detention): Unknown, possibly Beijing Municipal No. 1 or No. 2 Detention Center.

5. Authorities that ordered the detention:
Unknown since no official detention order has been shown to his family or lawyer; probably Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau, or more likely, PRC Ministry of Public Security, because there have been nationally coordinated actions by PSB in difference provinces to detain and interrogate people who were or might be associated with Mr. Gao.  

6. Reasons for the detention imputed by the authorities:
Inciting subvertion against the state 

7. Relevant legislation applied (if known):
The Beijing Municipal Procuratorate has not shown his family or lawyer the legal basis for detaining or charging Mr. Gao.  It is unclear what laws authorities will apply in this case; probably the PRC Criminal Procedure Law.

Updates:

Gao was tried by the Beijing Municipal No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court on December 12, 2006.  Lawyers authorized by Gao’s family, Mo Shaoping and Ding Xikui, were not allowed to defend Gao in court. In fact, the lawyers and the family were not informed of the trial, though the court claimed to have posted the trial date and place three days ago and called the trial “public.” The court appointed two lawyers not authorized by the family to attend the trial. The court also claimed that Gao Zhisheng confessed to the crime that he was charged with, “inciting sedition against the state,” though there is no way to confirm the court’s claims since no independent lawyers, family members, or observers were in the courtroom. Lawyers never saw the prosecution paper, nor had they have the chance to see the prosecutors’ evidence against Gao. 

Gao was sentenced on December 22 according to Xinhua news English service reporting.  He was sentenced to three years in jail with delayed service for five years and one-year deprivation of political rights.

He was released into house arrest on December 22, 2006. Police bar him from meeing anybody or speaking to anybody ouside the family.

For more information about Gao Zhisheng, please also visit Article_Show.asp?ArticleID=894