Zheng Yichun, China
Zheng Yichun, a poet, essayist and Professor of English at the University of Liaoning, was arrested by the security services in Yingkou, Liaoning Province, in December 2004, on “suspicion of inciting subversion of state power.” The prosecutor cited as evidence 63 signed articles that had appeared on dajiyuan.com, a website popular among China's intelligentsia. The essays were among 300 articles confiscated from Professor Zheng's home after his arrest. Zheng is an outspoken critic of the government: one of his essays calls China’s one-party system “the root of all evil”, and the title of his 2002 self-published book of poems is The Era of Brainwashing. In April 2005, at a trial attended by senior authorities from Liaoning Province, Zheng pleaded guilty. Even though his lawyer argued that he was protected by Article 35 of the Chinese Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press, Zheng was convicted in July 2005 and later sentenced to seven years in prison. Zheng suffers from diabetes and his health has deteriorated since his arrest. In May 2008 there were reports that he had suffered cerebral thrombosis, which caused paralysis in part of his face and constrained movement in his right arm. The prison Zheng is currently being held in does not have the medical facilities necessary to treat his condition and his relatives have asked for his release on medical grounds.

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