Chinese court sets August 25 verdict for jailed artist Gao Zhen

A court in northern China has set a date to rule on detained artist Gao Zhen, his family said, scheduling a verdict for nearly two years to the day after he was taken into custody.

The People’s Court of Sanhe City, in Hebei Province, will deliver its verdict at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, August 25, the family said in a statement. Gao was detained on August 26, 2024.

Gao, 70, is one half of the Gao Brothers artist duo and a permanent resident of the United States.

He was charged with “slandering China’s heroes and martyrs” under a 2021 law for sculptures of Mao Zedong he made more than a decade ago. He faces up to three years in prison.

The date follows a closed-door trial that ended without a ruling. Gao’s one-day trial began March 30 at the Sanhe court, where his family was barred from attending and European Union representatives who sought to observe were denied entry, the family said.

In June, the court told Gao the verdict would be delayed three months because the case was “major and complex,” Urgent Matter previously reported. The court did not explain the description.

The family said the artworks were made roughly 15 years ago, before the criminal provision was added to China’s Criminal Law in 2021.

“This case has become a test, not only of one artist’s fate, but of whether artistic expression and historical memory can be criminalized retroactively,” the family said.

Gao’s wife remains barred from leaving China, reportedly on “national security” grounds, the family said. Their 7-year-old son, a U.S. citizen, has been unable to return to his home and school in New York.

The European Union, the United States, human rights organizations and more than 20,000 petition signatories have called for Gao’s release, the family said.

“As the August 25 verdict approaches, we urgently call on the Chinese authorities to acquit and release Gao Zhen immediately and unconditionally, and lift the exit ban on his wife and son, and allow the family to return freely to the United States,” the family said.

Gao is in poor health, Urgent Matter previously reported. He fainted in September 2025, after which a jail doctor said he may have arteriosclerosis, and Chinese authorities have denied his application for medical bail.

United Nations human rights officials expressed concern over the case in April, citing the retroactive application of criminal law and the use of criminal sanctions to punish artistic expression. The Human Rights Foundation has submitted a complaint on Gao’s behalf to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention.

“Gao Zhen has already lost nearly two years of freedom,” the family said. “He should go home.”

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