Gou Zhongshan

Date(s) of Arrest:
May 18, 2006
Prison Terms:
13 years
Charges:
Illegally providing intelligence to foreign entities
Crime:
Photographing Laogai products and writing for China Information Center

Gou Zhongshan was born in 1982 in Sichuan. Starting in 2005, as a journalist for China Information Center, Gou wrote articles criticizing the Chinese Communist Party's "One Child Policy," as well as other articles critical of China's human rights record. These articles were published on the website for China Information Center's online magazine “Observer.” During the same time, Gou also tried to photograph, in detail, the products from Laogai farms. On April 28, 2006, the state's secret police secretly detained him. In August 2006, Gou was sentenced to 13 years in prison for "providing information to and writing for hostile foreign organizations."