He Depu (; born 28 October 1956) is a dissident in the People's Republic of China.

Biography

He was employed at the

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) is a Chinese research institute and think tank. The institution is the premier comprehensive national academic research organization in the People's Republic of China for the study in the fields of ...

in Beijing. Political activist who took part in the

Democracy Wall From November 1978 to December 1979, thousands of people put up " big character posters" on a long brick wall of Xidan Street, Xicheng District of Beijing, to protest about the political and social issues of China. Under acquiescence of the Chines ...

movement, he was founder of ''Beijing Youth'' magazine in 1979. In 1998, he helped found the proscribed

China Democracy Party The Democracy Party of China (DPC; ) is a political party that started in the People's Republic of China, and was banned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).Gittings, John. ''The Changing Face of China: From Mao to Market''. (2005). Oxford Unive ...

, but lost his job at the Social Sciences Academy after standing as a candidate in local elections in 1990. He Depu was tried in a two-hour hearing on 14 October 2002 for his links to the outlawed China Democracy Party, of which he is a member, and for posting essays on the Internet that "incited subversion." He was one of the 192 signatories of an open letter to the Sixteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2002. On 4 November 2002, he was arrested, and received an eight-year sentence for dissident activity on the Internet on 6 November 2003. In 2008, while in Beijing No. 2 Prison, his health began to deteriorate. He suffered from high blood pressure and did not receive appropriate treatment. In August 2008 he sent a letter to

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

head

Jacques Rogge Jacques Jean Marie Rogge, Count Rogge (, ; 2 May 1942 – 29 August 2021) was a Belgian sports administrator and physician who served as the eighth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013. In 2013, Rogge beca ...

, decrying the conditions in Chinese prisons, which he claims to have worsened. He Depu was released from prison on 24 January 2011. The day of his release he was beaten by four police officers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:He, Depu 1956 births Living people People's Republic of China journalists Chinese dissidents Prisoners and detainees of the People's Republic of China Writers from Beijing