Ren, a former Democracy Wall journalist who founded the underground publication China Human Rights League, actively supported the 1989 student democracy movement in speeches and articles calling for freedom of expression. He was arrested in June 1989, and sentenced on Jan. 26, 1991, to seven years in prison and three years without political rights after his release. Ren, who previously spent four years in prison, has reportedly been denied proper treatment for his cataracts and is said to be in danger of losing his eyesight. His chronic sinusitis, chest infections, acute gastritis, and severe internal and external hemorrhoids have also gone untreated.