Occupation: Human rights campaigner
Status: Jailed
In January 2012, Li Tie, 52, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “subversion of state power.” Li is perhaps best known for his reform-minded essays, including “Human Beings’ Heaven Is Human Dignity.” Some of his work focuses on freedom of expression. According to the New York Times, Li has worked to rekindle the spirit of Lin Zhao, a student and dissident who was executed in the 1960s for her ‘counterrevolutionary’ criticism.
—by Niharika Mandhana