Zhang Zhongshun
Zhang Zhongshun is a former lecturer at the Yantai University in Shandong. He was arrested in August 2007 after he played footage of the 1989 military crackdown of pro-democracy protests in Beijing while teaching a class. He was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for “using evil religious organisation to undermine the implementation of the law”. After completing his sentence, he was dismissed by Yantai University and became actively involved in civic activism, including the “same city movement”.
Chinese human rights defenders work across a wide spectrum of issues, engaging with rights violators on numerous levels. Many of China’s most prominent and most stringently prosecuted defenders have worked to protect the health and well-being of victims of physically harmful government and corporate practice, including forced abortion, food health scandals, environmental pollution, and corrupt or negligent government action leading to preventable loss of life.
