114 days after his death in Xinjiang Sha River prison: evidence chain investigation from protest, sentence to death notice

At about 22:30 on September 22, 2026, the son of Nanjing rights advocate Shuifu received a phone call from the Xinjiang Sha River prison, and was told that his father had "died from a heart attack" at 17 o'clock on the same day, and the body was placed in the funeral hall, the prison said the next morning will contact the family and communicate again.News released on September 22ndAccording to him, the son of Stephens had recently visited his father, and at the time he felt his condition was still fine, and Stephens himself did not propose any obvious physical discomfort.

As of the publication of this article, there has been no public information on the release of death certificates, medical certificates, rescue records or findings from the prison, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, prosecutor's office or hospital. Therefore, "heart attack" should now be understood as the death cause spoken to the family by the prison, rather than the final conclusion confirmed by independent medical evidence. The specific date of the family's last visit, when the abnormality occurred on September 22, whether it was discovered, whether it was sent to the doctor, when the death was announced, and how long the rescue lasted, there is no public answer.

He was sentenced to imprisonment until January 14,

1. From September 22, he was only 114 days away from his sentence. Public data showed that he was inter-provincially arrested by the Xinjiang Aral City District Public Security Bureau on January 15, 2024, and was officially arrested on February 8, and was sentenced to three years in prison in July, and transferred to the Xinjiang Manufacturing and Construction Corps First Division Sha River Prison on October 15, 2024.

This sudden death did not occur in a prisoner who had not previously received a health alert.Radio Free Asia, July 24, 2024Stamford’s health deteriorated during his detention in the city of Aral. People who remained in contact with family and friends said that he suffered from diseases such as high blood pressure, pneumonia, diabetes, lumbago discs, joints and humidity, and had experienced more than 200 cases of blood pressure.

On April 17, 2025, Stephenson spoke to his son and said he “feels helpless every day” and hoped his son and friends would send him letters and postcards.People's Watch then the call.The node was about 17 months from the time he was notified of his death, indicating that at least during his sentence, Stephens had actively expressed continued physical discomfort to his family.

The case in 2024 took place in a cross-provincial arrest.Radio Free Asia reports February 2024He was officially arrested by the Xinjiang police on suspicion of “provocation and eviction.” Early news appeared that “coalition overseas forces” “leaked state secrets” and other allegations, but later publicly seen the official treatment of the crime was “provocation and eviction.” Multi-personal rights sources said the case was related to his help in Xinjiang Aksu, Aral Belt Fruit Farm processing letters and sending related materials to external media people. Since the complete judgment has not been found in public channels so far, the court finally determined which specific online acts, which evidence was collected, could not be fully recovered from the public material.

In July 2024, the outside world was informed that Fawkes was sentenced to three years in prison; in October 2024, he was transferred to the First Division Shah River Prison. Since then, public information has mainly come from family phone calls, rights groups and human rights organizations. By January 2026, the Defense Network still recorded his sentence until January 14, 2027, where he served as the Shah River Prison. In other words, he ultimately did not wait until the planned sentence date.

It is not the first time that Stephenson was imprisoned for publicly speaking.On June 4, 2017, he was dressed outside the Nanjing Massacre Memorial and delivered a speech commemorating the "Six Four" and was then taken away by the police.Amnesty International Report 2018The results of this operation and the subsequent sentences of one year in prison and one year and six months in suspension were recorded.Free Asia RadioIt also showed that his friend, Chu Fengdong, who filmed and uploaded the video of his speech, was also detained.

During his 2017 detention, Stephens’s health has become an outer concern.Radio Free Asia in JulyFriends and family said he was unwell in prison, his old illness has recurred; and after his release in 2018, he also stated to the media that he had lost weight and stomach discomfort during his detention. The above-mentioned content about the specific treatment mainly came from his own statement, friends or rights defenders, and the public channels did not see the prison respond in the same detail, so these statements can not be confused with the official investigation conclusions.

Earlier open political operations occurred in 2016.When the then Chairman of the Chinese National Party, Hong Xiaoping, visited the mountains of Nanjing, Feng Xiaoping held the flag of the People's Republic of China and shouted slogans such as "Tri-Democratic unification of China" and "Long live the People's Republic of China", and was then taken away by the people in the dress.The Voice of the United States then directly connected.The story of his being taken away, interrogated and released by himself.RFA's live video footage shows his image in the crowd at the time.

From visiting in the 1990s due to personal rights and interest disputes, to paying attention to other rights cases, commemorating the "six-four" and publicly expressing political views in the Mountains of China, to helping Xinjiang Gong Farm to handle letters and visits materials, the path of action of Shui Fui has gradually expanded from individual complaints to public issues. In 2025, Chinese human rights defenders and other groups will award the "Shui Fui Human Rights Defenders Memorial Award" to the sentenced Shui Fui and Shui Fui;This was by Radio Free Asia.Regardless of how they evaluate these actions, they constitute an important context for understanding why Fujimori has long been under the attention of law enforcement and judicial systems.

The most crucial issue for this death is not first and foremost the political assessment, but the preservation of evidence and legal procedures.Article 55 of the Prison Law of the People's Republic of ChinaAccording to the law, if a criminal dies while serving a sentence, the prison shall immediately notify his family and the people's procuratorate and the people's court; if he dies from illness, the prison shall make a medical examination, and if the family has doubts about the examination, it may be submitted to the people's procuratorate.

In 2015, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued the Prison Criminal Death Treatment Regulations.Further requirements: for the preliminary determination of normal death, the prison should immediately secure and examine the original surveillance video within 15 days before the death, protect and investigate the death site, investigate the relevant civilian police, doctors and the personnel of the prison; the people's procuratorate implement legal supervision in accordance with the law.

Therefore, the family and the outside world the next most need to know is the exact time of the first appearance of chest pain, breathing difficulties, awareness abnormalities or other symptoms on September 22; when the prison staff report; when the prison medical staff contacted him; whether to start the cardiac chart, emergency medicines, removal, referral or 120 emergency services; what if sent to the hospital, admission and death declaration time respectively; if no medical dispatch, what is based on.

Since there have been public health alerts such as high blood pressure, abnormally elevated blood pressure in 2024, does the prison have its check-in, daily blood pressure monitoring, medication, cardiac electrocardiogram, blood glucose and clinical records?After 2025 he told his son "feel powerless every day", has it been further examined?A recent family visit felt that his condition was still in place and could not rule out the possibility of acute myocardial infarction, but could not replace medical records.

The third chain of evidence is the confirmation and supervision of the cause of death. If the family has doubts about the conclusion of the "heart attack", it can be submitted to the People's Prosecutor's Office in accordance with the law. Whether the investigation of this death has been notified to the prosecutor's office, the prosecutor's office when it is present, whether the body is monitored, whether the body is checked, whether forensic diagnosis is initiated, and whether the family can obtain the medical certificate of death and related investigation conclusions, will directly determine whether the incident can be promoted from a telephone notification to a verified death investigation.

His life spaned through personal visits, street expressions, two “provokational” cases and his sentencing in Xinjiang. Today, he suddenly died in prison after 114 days. Existing materials have been able to prove that he had a long-term underlying illness, he had repeatedly health deterioration and weakness during detention, and the prison notified his family on the evening of September 22 that he died on the same day; it is not yet possible to prove whether the “heart attack” was the ultimate cause of death after a complete medical investigation, and whether there were delays in the management of the disease, emergency treatment after the onset of the disease, or other questions. Answering these questions requires monitoring, medical records, rescue records, death investigation and prosecution supervision materials, rather than more unchecked spec