Sex Male
Birth date 1941-07-11
Birth place Sichuan Province
Resident place Hong Kong
Education University graduate
Profession Publisher and chief editor of Morning Bell Press, Hong Kong (Honorary member of ICPC and Danish PEN Center)
Date of arrest 2013-10-27 (detained), 2013-11-12 (arrested)
Organ of arrest Public Security Bureau of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province
Cause of arrest Reportedly working with US-based author and dissident Yu Jie to publish his book entitled “Chinese Godfather Xi Jinping”
Charge Carrying illegal items (detention), smuggling ordinary goods (arrest,verdict)
Date of sentence 2014-03-31(hearing), 2014-04-11(hearing continuous), 2014-05-07 (verdict), 2014-07-18 (appeal verdict)
Organ of sentence Intermediate People’s Court of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province, High People’s Court of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Province (appeal)
Sentence 10 years imprisonment and 250,000 CNY fine
Defender Lawyer ZHANG Hui, Lawyer MO Shaoping and DING Xikui
Place of jail Dowan Prison, 523299 Dongwan, Guangdong Province
Situation in jail Suffering from severe heart disease, several times of unconsciousness during detention so as being sent to hospital for emergency treatments
Date of release 2023-02-26 (reduced by 8 months on 2019-04-30)
Family contact YAO Yongzhan (son), USA, Tel: +1-651-3679286
Donation to
Case adopted by ICPC, Danish PEN
Current Status Main case
Reference
https://cpj.org/2014/05/hong-kong-publisher-yao-wentian-jailed-for-10-year.php
http://www.chinesepen.org/english/china-publisher-yao-wentian-aka-yiu-mantin-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison
http://www.englishpen.org/china-publisher-yao-wentian-aka-yiu-mantin-sentenced-to-10-years-in-prison/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/29/world/asia/publisher-of-book-critical-of-chinas-leader-is-arrested.html?_r=0