Xu Zhiyong

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Xu Zhiyong
许志永
Born	(1973-03-02) March 2, 1973 (age 51) Minquan County, Henan, China
Alma mater	Lanzhou University (LLB) Peking University (PhD)
Occupation(s)	Legal scholar, lecturer
Employer	Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications (Previous)
Organization	Open Constitution Initiative (Gongmeng)
Known for	Civil rights advocacy, advocacy of constitutionalism
Movement	New Citizens Movement Weiquan movement
Criminal charges	Disruption of public order (Politically motivated) Subversion
Criminal penalty	Imprisonment (4 Years in 2014, 14 Years in 2023)
Spouse	Cui Zheng (divorced)
Awards	Foreign Policy Top 100 Global Thinkers (2013) PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award (2020)

Xu Zhiyong (Chinese: 许志永; pinyin: Xǔ Zhìyǒng; born March 2, 1973) is a Chinese civil rights activist and formerly a lecturer at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications. He was one of the founders of the NGO Open Constitution Initiative and an active rights lawyer in China who campaigned against corruption^[1] and helped those underprivileged. He is the main founder and icon of the New Citizens' Movement in China. In January 2014 he was sentenced to four years in prison for "gathering crowds to disrupt public order".^[2] He was detained again on February 15, 2020, in the southern city of Guangzhou after two months in hiding, for his participation in a meeting of rights activists and lawyers in Xiamen in December 2019 in which "democratic transition in China" was discussed.^[3] He was sentenced for subversion to 14 years in jail on April 10, 2023.^[4]