China to sentence leading dissident Liu Xiaobo on Christmas Day

[Bhushan]

China to sentence leading dissident Liu Xiaobo on Christmas Day

China's most high-profile dissident faces 15 years in prison after a trial lasting just two hours which Human Rights Watch described as a "travesty of justice".

By David Eimer in Beijing

Liu Xiaobo, the co-author of the Charter 08 petition which calls for democratic political reforms in China, appeared in court in Beijing on Wednesday accused of "inciting subversion of state power".

Mr Liu pleaded not guilty to the charge, which is frequently used against anyone who criticises the ruling communist party (CCP).

Mr Liu has become China's most prominent opponent of the CCP, in essays published on the internet and for his work helping to organise the Charter 08 petition.

Since the 53-year-old former literature professor was detained on Dec 8 last year, both the European Union and the US have called for his release. China has rejected those calls as "unacceptable" interference in its internal affairs.

Western diplomats were barred from attending the trial at Beijing's No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, along with Mr Liu's wife Liu Xia.

China's CCP-controlled courts rarely overturn charges against political dissidents and Mrs Liu said she expected her husband to be found guilty. "I have no hope whatsoever," said Mrs Liu.

Her brother-in-law Liu Hui was allowed in the courtroom for the brief hearing and said the verdict would be announced on Friday. Mr Liu faces a sentence of between 5 and 15 years.

A long term dissident, Mr Liu spent three years in a re-education labour camp in the Nineties for his criticisms of the CCP. But his co-authorship of the Charter 08 petition, which was released last December, is regarded as a far more serious offence by Beijing.

The document called for greater freedom of expression, free elections and the abolition of the crime of subverting state power which Mr Liu was charged with last June.

 

[oct605032048]

thanks for your work for promoting human rights on the planet and denigrating China.
Even the fairy tails of Dalai Lama have something more to do with Chinese military than your post here.

 

[manglasiva]

poor guys..looks so miserable..

 

[Guest]

having read this, i just came across a question: every nation have their own apple of the eye: westen world-- freedom+human right; easten asians-- family harmony and national security; Muslim -- national secutiry + religious ideology. so why the so-called freedom is more important than anything else?

freedom?oh yes, you wont get caught by yelling at the president in front of the write house, but what about to do the samething to the pope at Vatican. you may feel free to burn any national flags, but what about burning some holy statue or Bible in public.

therefore, next time when someone want to make a "freedom" speech, try to remember this:
some Japanese were willing to launch a kamikaze attack for their counrty;
some Pakistani would consider themselves a Muslim first then next a Pakistani.

 

[Bhushan]

China jails dissident Liu Xiaobo for 11 years

BEIJING (Reuters) – China's most prominent dissident, Liu Xiaobo, was jailed on Friday for 11 years for campaigning for political freedoms, with the stiff sentence on a subversion charge swiftly condemned by rights groups and Washington.

Liu, who turns 54 on Monday, helped organize the "Charter 08" petition which called for sweeping political reforms, and before that was prominent in the 1989 pro-democracy protests centered on Tiananmen Square that were crushed by armed troops.

He stood quietly in a Beijing courtroom as a judge found him guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" for his role in the petition and for online essays critical of the ruling Communist Party, defense lawyer Shang Baojun said.

Liu was not allowed to respond in court to the sentence.

"Xiaobo and I were very calm when the verdict was read. We were mentally prepared for it that he would get a long sentence," said Liu's wife, Liu Xia, who was allowed in to hear the verdict. She was barred from the trial on Wednesday.

"Later we were allowed 10 minutes together, and he told me he would appeal, even if the chances of success are low," she said.

Liu has been among the most combative critics of China's one-Party rule. His case attracted an outcry from Western government and rights activists at home and abroad. The unusually harsh sentence drew a fresh outcry that is likely to grow.

China "sees Liu Xiaobo as a representative figure, and think they can scare the others into silence with such a harsh sentence," said dissident writer and Christian activist Yu Jie.

President "Hu Jintao believes that with the West weakened and human rights taking a back seat, he can ignore pressure over attacks on freedom of expression."

Standing outside the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court, a U.S. diplomat said Washington was "deeply concerned."

"We continue to call on the government of China to release him immediately and to respect the rights of all Chinese citizens to peacefully express their political views in favor of universally recognized fundamental freedoms," the diplomat said.

China, emboldened by its strong economy and the woes of Western powers, appears to have little patience with pressure over its strict controls on citizens' political activities.

China's Party-controlled courts rarely acquit defendants, especially in politically sensitive cases.

At the trial on Wednesday, the court limited Liu and his lawyers to 14 minutes to defend him -- the same time prosecutors spent laying them out the charges, said the lawyer Shang.

"This created serious inconvenience for us," he said.

The verdict, which Liu's wife showed to a Reuters reporter, focused on his role in organizing Charter 08.

Liu "had the goal of subverting our country's people's democratic dictatorship and socialist system," read the verdict. "The effects were malign, and he is a major criminal."

China had criticized Western diplomats, who sought to attend the trial. The envoys were also excluded from the verdict hearing, as were reporters who gathered outside.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch decried the verdict. Online supporters and sympathizers displayed yellow ribbons in solidarity.

Local Chinese-language media did not report the verdict, but word swiftly spread on Twitter, which is blocked but can be accessed by by-passing Internet controls.

Liu has been a thorn in the government's side since joining a hunger strike backing Tiananmen student protesters. He had been jailed for 20 months after 1989, spent three years at a labor camp in the 1990s and months under virtual house arrest.

"If Liu can be sentenced for his writings, then many more of us can also be sentenced," said Yu, the dissident.

 

[Bhushan]

China: Liu Xiaobo’s Trial a Travesty of Justice

(New York) – By mounting a pre-determined political trial of China’s most prominent dissident, the Chinese government is violating the rights of Liu Xiaobo and showing contempt for its universal human rights commitments, Human Rights Watch said today.

Liu Xiaobo, a leading intellectual who spent nearly two years in prison after the Tiananmen crackdown, has been indicted for “incitement to subvert state power,” a charge frequently used against dissidents because it allows the criminalization of criticisms of the government and the party. Liu’s trial is due to open on the morning of December 23 in Beijing.

“The only purpose of this trial is to dress up naked political repression in the trappings of legal proceedings,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “Liu’s crimes are non-existent, yet his fate has been pre-determined. This is a travesty of justice.”

Liu has been indicted for “incitement to subvert state power” for his contribution to the drafting of “Charter ‘08,” a political manifesto calling for human rights and the rule of law in China, as well as several articles he had published in previous years. He was arrested on December 8, 2008, and detained for over a year before being indicted. He faces up to 15 years in prison, the maximum under a single charge of “fixed-term imprisonment” under Chinese law.

Although Liu was promised an open trial, his wife Liu Xia was told by court officials this week that she would not be allowed to attend the trial. Several original co-signatories of Charter ‘08 who had earlier expressed their solidarity with Liu Xiaobo, as well as other supporters, have been warned by security agents that they should not attempt to attend the trial and placed under police surveillance.

“Liu Xiaobo’s case has been marked by grave rights violations from the outset,” said Richardson. “His arrest was political, the charges are political, and his trial is political.”

Human Rights Watch urged foreign governments to continue to press the Chinese government for Liu Xiaobo’s immediate release.

Background:

Liu, a prolific writer and pro-democracy essayist, has been detained, arrested, and sentenced repeatedly for his peaceful political activities since the late 1980s. Arguably China's most well-known dissident abroad, he has received several international human rights prizes.

After his detention in December 2008, a group of leading writers, China scholars, lawyers, and human rights advocates from around the world, including several Nobel Prize winners, released a letter urging for Liu's release to Chinese President Hu Jintao. On January 21, 2009, the appeal was echoed by a consortium of 300 international writers coordinated by PEN, including Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco, Margaret Atwood, and Ha Jin.

In March 2009, Liu was awarded the Homo Homini prize, which was presented by President Václav Havel to several other signatories of Charter ‘08 representing Liu at a ceremony in Prague. Human Rights Watch, as well as Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, and PEN have repeatedly called for his release, and recently asked President Obama to raise his case in his meeting with President Hu Jintao.

The only purpose of this trial is to dress up naked political repression in the trappings of legal proceedings. Liu’s crimes are non-existent, yet his fate has been pre-determined. This is a travesty of justice.
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director
Human Rights Watch

 

[grey boy 2]

Good news, Liu Xiaobo got whats he deserved for being a puppet

supported and funded by the west to cause unrest and instablility in

China. Traitor had no identity and deserve no sympathy.

 

[bigmoneymaker]

good....such people should be jailed....why he/she cannot criticize the current affairs/policy normally like we other chinese community do?? and hence why cannot participate in the reforms to change the landscape for majority interests instead of screaming to draw the attention of their foregin human right hypocrites/ masters??? seems like only his interests gets hurt during development&reforms so he gets the right to insult/violate the current implementing policies???????

 

[Naradmuni]

well, the poor guy is a "dissident" and not a hardened criminal. if china can annihilate thousands of innocent dissidents in tinamen square and elsewhere, then this chap is no big deal.

@ china and chinese : Have a heart.

 

[Merilion]

i'm not a big fan of Mr. liu xiaobo but i salute to him for his courage to face up ccp. i'm not too sure what he had done is good for current China but i think it's nevertheless a vision for future China.

 

[Sino-PakFriendship]

Salute to Liu Xiaobo

 

[stax]

China needs such person to spread democracy.

 

[grey boy 2]

My Chinese brother, please stop defending a traitor funded and

supported by the outsiders to harm our mother-land.

Just read whats he said during an interview in HongKong, you will able

to realize his true colour;

As a political commentator and activist, Liu has offended a number of people. An oft-mentioned quote is from a 1988 interview with Hong Kong's Liberation Monthly (now known as Open Magazine) in which Liu said in response to a question on what it would take for China to realize a true historical transformation, "[It would take] 300 years of colonialism. In 100 years of colonialism, Hong Kong has changed to what we see today. With China being so big, of course it would take 300 years of colonialism for it to be able to change to how Hong Kong is today. I have my doubts as to whether 300 years would be enough."[24] Liu later admitted that the response was extemporaneous.
Liu Xiaobo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Naradmuni]

As a political commentator and activist, Liu has offended a number of people. An oft-mentioned quote is from a 1988 interview with Hong Kong's Liberation Monthly (now known as Open Magazine) in which Liu said in response to a question on what it would take for China to realize a true historical transformation, "[It would take] 300 years of colonialism. In 100 years of colonialism, Hong Kong has changed to what we see today. With China being so big, of course it would take 300 years of colonialism for it to be able to change to how Hong Kong is today. I have my doubts as to whether 300 years would be enough."

Do you need to hang him for saying so?? I thank god a thousand million times that I am not born in China.

 

[BATMAN]

He was a sepratist rather more of a rebel or dissident.
His punishment is ver mild as compare to what indians impart to such declared people.
In india any rebel got killed extra judicialy, their families are torn apart and people from same ethnicity are mass murdered.

Kashmiri separatist leader killed

Dalai lama is a rebel but in exile and is not punished but indian agents follow their rebels abroad and assasin them even in western world.

China is light years ahead in moral values as compare to indian.