On 13 April 2023, prominent human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife Xu Yan were taken into police custody while en route to the delegation of the European Union to China in Beijing. In October, Yu Wensheng and Xu Yan were indicted on charges of “picking quarrels” and an additional charge of “inciting subversion of state power,” and in January 2024, the couple were transferred from a detention centre in Beijing to one in Jiangsu Province. Xu Yan has reportedly lost 14kg since being detained and the conditions of her detention in Beijing may have constituted torture and other ill-treatment. Their son, who turned 18 just before their detention, has faced a serious deterioration of his mental health over the last year, and currently suffers from depression.
