Occupation: Human rights activist
Status: Jailed
In December 2011, Chen, 42, was found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” and sentenced to nine years in jail. He was accused of helping to mastermind a Chinese answer to the “Jasmine Revolution” and publishing essays about political reform. Chen was first jailed for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square student protests. He was released in 1991, but was soon back behind bars, serving five more years for “counter-revolutionary propaganda and incitement.”
—by Courtney Subramanian