Cai Wei and Chen Mei sentenced, released on time served
On 13 August 2021, the Wenyuhe Court in Beijing's Chaoyang District sentenced human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei to one year and three months' imprisonment, for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". On 15 August 2021, they were released on time served in pre-trial detention since April 2020.
On 29 July 2021, the families of human rights defender Cai Wei and Chen Mei contacted the presiding judge at the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing to inquire about the outcome of the human rights defenders' trial which took place on 11 May 2021. The judge said the deadline for rendering a verdict has been extended for three months, and that the extension was necessary to allow the "legal process" to run its course, but did not provide any further details.
On 11 May 2021, the trial of Cai Wei and Chen Mei took place at the Wenyuhe Court in Beijing's Chaoyang District. Only one family member for each defender was allowed to attend the trial, for which both Cai Wei and Chen Mei were represented by government-appointed lawyers.
During the weekend of 23 April 2021, a judge informed the family of human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei that their trial, originally scheduled to start on 26 April 2021, had been postponed a second time until after the Labour Day holiday in May. The court did not provide a new date.
On 21 January 2021, lawyers assigned by the authorities to represent human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei informed their families that the Beijing Chaoyang District Court has postponed the deadline for holding a trial to 29 April 2021, citing the pandemic as a reason.
On 22 September 2020, a lawyer assigned by the Chinese Government to represent human rights defender Chen Mei informed Chen's mother that he and fellow human rights defender Cai Wei have been indicted and their case has been sent for trial to the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing.
On 6 August 2020, the state-appointed lawyer for human rights defender Chen Mei informed his family that the Beijing police have sent the case against him and Cai Wei to the procuratorate for prosecution review.
On 12 June 2020, Beijing police informed the families of Cai Wei and Chen Mei that the two defenders have been formally arrested on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". They are currently detained at the Beijing Chaoyang District Detention Centre.
On the evening of 13 May 2020, Ms Tang, Cai Wei's partner was released on bail pending investigation. She returned to her hometown in Anhui province. Chen Mei and Cai Wei remain under residential surveillance in an undisclosed location. On 14 May 2020, Chen Mei's family received a formal notice from the Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau confirming his detention under "residential surveillance in a designated location" since the evening of 19 April 2020, on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
On 19 April 2020, right to information defenders Cai Wei (蔡伟) and Chen Mei (陈玫), as well as Cai Wei’s partner, a woman surnamed Tang, went missing.
Chen Mei (陈玫) is a right to information defender based in Beijing. He is a volunteer contributor for Terminus2049 (端点星计划), an online crowd-sourced repository hosted on the open-source platform Github, which archives content removed from Chinese websites and social media platforms by government censors.
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- 16 August 2021 : Cai Wei and Chen Mei sentenced, released on time served
- 3 August 2021 : Verdict deadline extended for three months
- 13 May 2021 : Cai Wei and Chen Mei tried in Beijing
- 30 April 2021 : Trial of Cai Wei and Chen Mei postponed a second time
- 22 January 2021 : Trial postponed to April
- 22 September 2020 : Chen Mei and Cai Wei indicted
- 7 August 2020 : Case of Chen Mei and Cai Wei sent for prosecution review
- 16 June 2020 : Families of Cai Wei and Chen Mei made aware of their location
- 28 May 2020 : Cai Wei's partner released; Chen Mei receives formal confirmation of charges
- 28 April 2020 : Right to information defenders detained in undisclosed location
On 13 August 2021, the Wenyuhe Court in Beijing's Chaoyang District sentenced human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei to one year and three months' imprisonment, for "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". On 15 August 2021, they were released on time served in pre-trial detention since April 2020.
On 29 July 2021, the families of human rights defender Cai Wei and Chen Mei contacted the presiding judge at the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing to inquire about the outcome of the human rights defenders' trial which took place on 11 May 2021. The judge said the deadline for rendering a verdict has been extended for three months, and that the extension was necessary to allow the "legal process" to run its course, but did not provide any further details.
Under China's Criminal Procedures Law, a court must render a verdict within two months of accepting the case and not more than three months at the latest (article 208). However, the law allows for an additional three-month extension, with approval by a higher court, if a case is considered to be "major and complicated" where the alleged offence was committed in remote regions where transportation is extremely inconvenient, was gang-related, was committed in several locations, and/or involved "a large area making it difficult to gather evidence" (article 158).
On 11 May 2021, the trial of Cai Wei and Chen Mei took place at the Wenyuhe Court in Beijing's Chaoyang District. Only one family member for each defender was allowed to attend the trial, for which both Cai Wei and Chen Mei were represented by government-appointed lawyers.
The two human rights defenders pleaded guilty to "picking quarrels and provoking troubles", an ill-defined charge often leveled against human rights defenders for their peaceful activism or criticism of government policies. According to accounts from those who attended the trial, the prosecutors accused Cai Wei and Chen Mei of operating an online forum, on which some posts were deemed to be "false information", "inflammatory", and "insulting to State leaders and harmful to their reputation". The online forum was hosted on a website that archived content censored by the Chinese government, including articles concerning COVID-19.
The verdict for the case is expected to be announced at a later date.
During the weekend of 23 April 2021, a judge informed the family of human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei that their trial, originally scheduled to start on 26 April 2021, had been postponed a second time until after the Labour Day holiday in May. The court did not provide a new date.
On 21 January 2021, lawyers assigned by the authorities to represent human rights defenders Cai Wei and Chen Mei informed their families that the Beijing Chaoyang District Court has postponed the deadline for holding a trial to 29 April 2021, citing the pandemic as a reason. The previous deadline for holding the trial of the two human rights defenders was 29 January 2021.
The families of the human rights defenders have questioned the validity of the pandemic as a reason for postponement. According to the official website of the Beijing judiciary, at least eight public trials are scheduled to take place at the Chaoyang District Court between 25 January and 2 February 2021, and many more public trials in other courts in Beijing between 22 January and 22 February 2021.
On 22 September 2020, a lawyer assigned by the Chinese Government to represent human rights defender Chen Mei informed Chen's mother that he and fellow human rights defender Cai Wei have been indicted and their case has been sent for trial to the Chaoyang District Court in Beijing.
Since their detention in April 2020, Chen Mei and Cai Wei have not been allowed access to the legal counsel chosen by their families. Instead, the Government claimed that both defenders have "voluntarily" sought and received legal representation through the State legal aid programme.
Chen Mei's family have submitted a complaint to the Chaoyang District Judicial Bureau against the law firm to which Chen Mei's two Government-assigned lawyers belong, contending that they have violated laws and regulations governing the conduct of lawyers by representing clients who do not need legal aid and whose families have expressly rejected their representation.
On 6 August 2020, the state-appointed lawyer for human rights defender Chen Mei informed his family that the Beijing police have sent the case against him and Cai Wei to the procuratorate for prosecution review. Under Chinese law, the procuratorate must make a decision whether to prosecute the case within a month. However, this deadline may be extended for a further 15 days if the case is deemed “major” or “complicated”. It may also refer the case back to the police for supplementary investigation.
Chen Wei and Cai Wei have now been detained for more than 110 days on the charge of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
On 12 June 2020, Beijing police informed the families of Cai Wei and Chen Mei that the two defenders have been formally arrested on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble". They are currently detained at the Beijing Chaoyang District Detention Centre.
The families were also told that the two defenders "voluntarily applied for free legal assistance" and are now represented by lawyers identified by the government, despite the fact that the families have already appointed lawyers to assist them since their detention in April 2020.
Before their formal arrests, Cai Wei and Chen Mei were placed under residential surveillance in a designated location, a form of secret incommunicado detention provided for under China's Criminal Procedure Law. The family-appointed lawyers have not been able to meet the two defenders or obtain any information from the police, including their exact detention location and the details of the charges against them.
On the evening of 13 May 2020, Ms Tang, Cai Wei's partner was released on bail pending investigation. She returned to her hometown in Anhui province. Chen Mei and Cai Wei remain under residential surveillance in an undisclosed location.
On 14 May 2020, Chen Mei's family received a formal notice from the Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau confirming his detention under "residential surveillance in a designated location" since the evening of 19 April 2020, on suspicion of "picking quarrels and provoking trouble".
Lawyers appointed by Cai Wei and Chen Mei's families have made repeated attempts, without success, to obtain information from the police on the whereabouts of the two defenders, the responsible officers, and details about the case against them.
On 19 April 2020, right to information defenders Cai Wei (蔡伟) and Chen Mei (陈玫), as well as Cai Wei’s partner, a woman surnamed Tang, went missing.
Cai Wei and Chen Mei are Beijing-based volunteer contributors for Terminus2049 (端点星计划), an online crowd-sourced repository hosted on the open-source platform Github, which archives content removed from Chinese websites and social media platforms by government censors. The repository was set up in January 2018 and has now archived hundreds of articles, many of the most recent ones on the topic of COVID-19. Since the coronavirus outbreak began in China in December 2019, government monitors have censored media reports, personal blog entries, and social media posts that criticise or discuss the government’s responses to the pandemic, such as the harassment of whistleblower doctors in Wuhan and pleas from frontline healthcare workers for international assistance.
On 23 and 24 April 2020, the families of Cai Wei and Ms Tang received an official document from the Chaoyang District Branch of the Beijing Public Security Bureau informing them that the two have been placed under “residential surveillance in a designated location” (RSDL) on suspicion of “picking quarrels and provoking trouble”. Chen Mei’s family believe he was taken away by Chaoyang public security officers but they are yet to receive any official detention notice and his whereabouts are unknown.
Under Chinese law, public security officers are authorised to place suspects or defendants under residential surveillance in a designated location for up to six months. RSDL detainees who are being investigated for “crimes endangering State security, involving terrorist activities or involving significant amount of bribes” may be detained in a venue other than a detention centre or a special venue for investigation and require permission from the investigators to meet with lawyers. Under the Criminal Law of China, “picking quarrels and provoking trouble” is classified as a public order rather than a national security or economic offence. While Chinese law requires the police to notify a RSDL detainee’s family about the detention within 24 hours, it does not explicitly require the police to reveal the exact location of detention.
In August 2018, UN human rights experts wrote to the Chinese government raising concern that the conditions of detention under RSDL “are analogous to incommunicado and secret detention and tantamount to enforced disappearance”, exposing “those subjected to RSDL to the risk of torture and other inhuman and degrading treatment and other human rights violations.” Many human rights defenders have been subjected to RSDL in recent years and are often denied access to their lawyers during the detention.
Front Line Defenders is deeply concerned about the detention of Cai Wei and Ms Tang and the unknown location of their detention and the on-going disappearance of Chen Mei.
