Artist Gao Zhen Receives Three-Year Prison Sentence for ‘Slandering China’s Heroes’

Artist Gao Zhen, who was detained in China in 2024 on “suspicion of slandering China’s heroes and martyrs” over a satirical sculpture of Mao Zedong, has been sentenced to a maximum of three years in prison, rights groups say. The BBC reported yesterday that a court in Hebei province ruled on Tuesday that Gao Zhen’s artwork “infringes upon the hero’s reputation and harms the public interest.” The 70-year-old artist is known for a dissident oeuvre tha