Gao Zhen, a prominent Chinese artist known for provocative sculptures of the former leader Mao Zedong, has been sentenced to three years in prison after being found guilty of slandering China’s “heroes and martyrs”. The sentencing came two years after he was detained while visiting the country with his family, according to his wife and human rights groups.
The case has attracted international condemnation, largely because the artworks at the centre of the case were created more than 10 years before China created the law under which Gao was charged.
The law, which bans defamation of China’s heroes and martyrs, came into force in March 2018. Courts have previously used the law to charge people who challenge official accounts of Chinese history.
Gao, 70, a Chinese citizen and US permanent resident, was detained on 26 August 2024 after returning to China with his wife and son. Police later raided his studio near Beijing.
In one of Gao’s most famous works with his brother Gao Qiang, they depict Mao kneeling. In another, a firing squad made up of seven Mao statues point rifles at Jesus.
Gao’s wife, Zhao Yaliang, told the Guardian that the two years since her husband’s detention had been a painful ordeal for the family.
“His arrest and trial should never have happened. We have had no choice but to wait in anguish … I am very sad that it’s going to be this long,” she said after the verdict.
According to his wife, two of Gao’s relatives were allowed to enter the Sanhe city people’s court in Hebei province for the verdict, while she waited with their son and several friends outside.
“For two years he has suffered in the detention centre, while my son, our closest family members and I have also endured this torment,” she said.
Gao’s family said he had fainted in detention and was afflicted with back, knee and respiratory problems. His wife said Gao had sustained heatstroke during the summer and described experiencing a feeling of “being close to death”.
Weiquanwang, a human rights monitoring network, said Gao had been sentenced for “infringing the reputation and honour of heroes and martyrs”. The rights network said Gao’s studio and property had been sealed and that friends and supporters had been silenced.
Artworks made by Gao during his time in detention and seen by the Guardian include a series of colourful paper cuttings.
“A body can be confined, but clarity of mind is harder to take away. Mentally he remains remarkably sharp and unbroken,” said Gao Qiang, who spent decades producing art with him as the Gao brothers.
“Art should never be a crime scene waiting to be discovered,” he said.
In a handwritten letter sent from detention to his young son, Gao wrote: “Dad’s eyesight isn’t very good, and I don’t have my glasses, so my handwriting isn’t very good.
“I hope I can finish my work as soon as possible and return to you and Mum,” he wrote. “Son, remember: Dad will always love you!”
Sophie Richardson, a longtime China human rights campaigner, said: “Gao has been prosecuted for conduct that has never been criminal, and his family has endured collective punishment at the hands of the authorities, and that is criminal.”
Sarah Brooks, the China director for Amnesty International, said the decision to sentence Gao to a maximum three-year prison term illustrated “the authorities’ determination to deter others from engaging in independent artistic expression”.
Gao’s wife and their young son have been unable to leave China since his detention. Human rights campaigners said his wife was stopped from travelling abroad based on national security grounds. His young son is a US citizen but has been unable to leave without his parents.
The Chinese foreign ministry was approached for comment.
