Li Yuanlong was a journalist at Bijie Daily, a newspaper in China’s Guizhou province. In February 2005, he began to write articles online under the pseudonym Ye Lang (Night Wolf), criticizing living standards and advocating for democracy and free will. He also exposed the dark parts of Chinese society through interviews of the poor and uneducated. Local government officials disapproved and forced him to stop this kind of writing.

Li’s troubles began after he published four articles on foreign websites.  On September 9, 2005, local police detained him at his office on suspicion of “inciting subversion of state power.” On September 23rd, he was placed under house arrest and was formally arrested on the 29th. On July 13, 2006, he was tried, convicted, given a two-year prison sentence, and deprived of political rights for an additional two years. 

In September 2007, he was released after serving his jail term. However, life has become harder for him and his family. His reporter status has been revoked and he is barred from working for state entities, including China's state media.

With LRF’s help, his son, Li Muzi, was able to come to the U.S. to attend university in 2009. Li Muzi feels obligated to tell Congress about the grave human rights violations they have endured as a result of China’s internet censorship. 

 

 

Excerpts from Li Yuanlong's 2005 Verdict:

According to the accusation by the Guizhou Provincial People's Procuratorate, Bijie Branch, Defendant Li Yuanlong … often visits overseas websites by using “Free gate", "UltraSurf," ​​and other such computer software. From May to August 2005, under the pseudonyms of “Ye Lang” (Night Wolf) or “yehaolang”, Li Yuanlong published four articles on the overseas websites, namely, “Becoming American, in Ideology” 《在思想上加入美国国籍》, “Ordinary Life, Deplorable Death” 《生的平凡 死的可悲》, “On the Party Secretary Who Takes a Meeting More Seriously Than His Mother’s Death” 》、《不光是涮涮八十老母去世还要继续开会的书记》, and “Becoming a Party Member, From the Perspective of an Old Senile Man” 《从百岁老朽入党说开去》. These articles fabricated, distorted, or exaggerated the facts, with the purpose of inciting subversion of state power and overthrowing the socialist system. 

This Court finds that defendant Li Yuanlong published articles online to attack the CCP leadership and incite subversion of state power by means of slandering and spreading rumors, and what he has done has constituted the crime of inciting subversion of state power. This court also finds that the facts submitted by the public prosecutor are clear and he can be convicted of the crime. In accordance with the second Item of Article 105 and Article 55 of the "Criminal Law," and the first Item of the second paragraph of "The Decision on Safeguarding Internet Security" passed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the Court determines the following sentence:

Defendant Li Yuanlong is sentenced to two years imprisonment, plus deprivation of political rights for two years, on charges of inciting subversion of state power.