Police detained Wen Ming, also known as Hai Wenming, on December 12, 2016, in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Wen was sentenced to two years in prison for “disrupting the social order” by a court in Tongliao in the summer of 2017, according to news reports.
The arrest came after Wen published a series of articles about land disputes between Horqin Left Rear Banner and a neighboring village. Wen’s articles detailed the disputes and local officials’ suppression of residents’ efforts to petition authorities, according to Radio Free Asia.
Xinna, a human rights activist in Inner Mongolia, told CPJ that Wen’s reporting was critical of how police handled the disputes and that Hohhot police threatened Wen’s family, warning them not to contact anyone regarding his case.
As of September 2017, Wen was being held at the Horqin Left Rear Banner Ganqikazhen Detention Center, according to China Political Prisoner Concern, a human rights website based in New York.
CPJ’s calls to the Tongliao Public Security Bureau in late 2018 went unanswered. Wen’s lawyer, Wang Yulin, declined to share any information regarding Wen’s case.