Hu Shigen

Date(s) of Arrest:
May 1992, July 2015
Prison Terms:
20 years, 7.5 years
Charges:
Organizing and leading a counterrevolutionary group, producing counterrevolutionary propaganda and incitement, subversion of state power
Crime:
Forming the China Free Democratic Party, spreading democratic ideals through house churches, practicing Christianity outside of a state-controlled church

Hu Shigen, a native of Nanchang in Jiangxi Province, was a lecturer at the Beijing Language and Culture University. In 1991, together with Wang Guoqi, Kang Yuchun, Liu Jingsheng, and others, he formed the “China Free Democratic Party” and its peripheral organizations the "China Progressive Alliance" and the "China Free Trade Union Preparatory Committee". The Chinese government branded all of these organizations illegal. When Hu was preparing to commemorate the third anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests in May 1992, he was secretly arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

After serving 16 years of his sentence, Hu was released in 2008. He converted to Christianity, became active in house churches, and continued to advocate for democracy and human rights.

Hu was arrested again in July 2015. He was convicted of engaging in illegal religious activities and subversion of state power, for which the authorities sentenced him to 7.5 years in prison.

【Video】Working towards civil society: Hu Shigen(Chinese)

【Video】Great Patriot-Hu Shigen(Chinese)

【Video】Religious Prisoners of Conscience: Hu Shigen(ENGLISH)