Youtube: The Seven Sentences of Liu Xiaobo - sentenced to 11 years in jail
Peter Terpstra
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/25/china-jails-liu-xiaobo
E.L. Doctorow, Don DeLillo, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Edward Albee, A.M. Homes,
Honor Moore, Victoria Redel, and other PEN Members gathered on the steps of
the New York Public Library to demand the release of writer Liu Xiaobo, who
was sentenced on Christmas Day to 11 years in prison in China. The program
featured short statements and readings by PEN Members. After the event, a PEN
delegation delivered a letter to the Permanent Mission of the Peoples Republic
of China to the U.N.
One of China's most prominent human rights activists was condemned today to 11
years in prison, prompting a furious backlash from domestic bloggers and
international civil society groups.
Liu Xiaobo, the founder of the Charter 08 campaign for constitutional reform,
was given the unusually harsh jail term on Christmas Day in an apparent
attempt to minimise international attention.
The case has raised fears that other drafters of Charter 08 could also face
retribution from the authorities.
Following a year in detention and a two-hour trial, it took the No 1
intermediate people's court in Beijing just 10 minutes to read out the 11-page
sentence.
Liu was found guilty on Wednesday of subversion, the vaguely defined charge
that Communist party leaders often use to imprison political opponents.
In a statement released by the state-controlled Xinhua news agency, the court
said it had "strictly followed the legal procedures" and "fully protected
Liu's litigation rights".
However, the author and academic had been detained without trial for a year.
His wife, Liu Xia, was not allowed into an earlier hearing, nor were foreign
diplomatic observers. Liu's lawyers have been warned not to discuss the case.
But the defence team said they were prepared to appeal against the verdict.
"We cannot accept this sentence because we have argued in court that Liu is
innocent," said one of his lawyers, Mo Shaoping. His wife could not be reached
as her mobile phone was suddenly out of order.
Amnesty International expressed outrage at the sentence, which it said was the
harshest in 35 subversion cases since 2003.
"Liu Xiaobo's detention and trial shows the Chinese government will not
tolerate Chinese citizens participating in discussions about their own form of
government," said Sam Zarifi, director of the group's Asia pacific program.
"After this, more than 300 scholars, lawyers and officials who proposed the
blueprint for improving the political system might be at risk as well, as
nearly 10,000 signatories."
Outside the courtroom and in the Chinese blogosphere, Liu's supporters have
initiated a yellow ribbon campaign for his release. "China's Mandela was born
this Christmas," wrote the influential blogger Beichen.
Many activists were kept under house arrest or warned not to attend the
hearings, but the contemporary artist Ai Weiwei was among those at the
courtroom. "This does not mean a meteor has fallen. This is the discovery of a
star," he tweeted. "Although this is a sentence on Liu Xiaobo alone, it is
also a slap on the face for everyone in China."
Liu, a former Beijing Normal University professor, is a leading intellectual
critic of the repressive Chinese government.
Liu was previously imprisoned for 20 months for taking part in the 1989
student-led protests in Tiananmen Square.
He told friends that he knew the risk of imprisonment when he drafted Charter
08, which demands the open election of public officials, freedom of religion
and expression, and the abolition of subversion laws.
"We should end the practice of viewing words as crimes," the petition says.
Liu was arrested last December before the Charter was made public. Other
drafters and signatories have been harassed. The mainstream media have been
forbidden to cover the subject and censors have blocked many related internet
sites and articles. Many Chinese are unaware that it exists.
Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco and Margaret Atwood are among 300 international
writers who have called for the release of Liu, who is a former president of
the Independent Chinese PEN Centre.
"Liu Xiaobo's case is about agreed international human rights standards, not
merely the internal affairs of China," said John Ralston Saul, the president
of International PEN. "China is signatory to international treaties and
conventions, and cannot be given a free pass when it acts against its own and
international standards."
The United States and European Union have also urged Beijing to free Liu.
"We continue to call on the government of China to release him immediately,"
Gregory May, first secretary with the US Embassy, said outside the courthouse
today. May was one of a dozen diplomats stopped by authorities from attending
the trial and sentencing.
Foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told reporters this week that statements
from embassies calling for Liu's release were "a gross interference of China's
internal affairs".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxvsAsegrGE
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Amnesty International Report 2009 on China:
http://report2009.amnesty.org/en/regions/asia-pacific/china