Chen Taihe was arrested in July 2015. According to Radio Free Asia, one reason for Chen’s detention may be his friendship with another detained lawyer, Li Heping.

Chen, an attorney and law professor at Guilin University of Electronic Technology, is known for advocating for a jury system to be established in China, according to China Change.

On Sept. 18, three months after his arrest, China Change published what it says is a statement from Chen’s wife, Jiang Jie. In it, she says that she fled to San Francisco with their 7-year-old son after Chen’s arrest, only to find that all financial accounts in her and her husband’s names had been frozen. “When I inquired about the matter by telephone I was told that the order to freeze the accounts was given by the public security bureau of Qixing District, Guilin City. They declined to provide a reason. I’m now here with my 7-year-old son, while five months pregnant, and have no access to the savings accumulated through years of hard work by my husband. We have no economic means, no health insurance.”

According to Amnesty International, as of Jan. 20, 2016, Chen is at his home in Guilin under residential surveillance.