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China upholds jail term for leading dissident

By Marianne Barriaux | AFP

Police monitor protesters outside the China Liaison offices in Hong Kong demonstrating for the release of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. A Beijing court has upheld on appeal an 11-year prison term against leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for subversion, triggering swift condemnation from the US, the EU and Britain.AFP/Mike Clarke/China

A Beijing court on Thursday upheld on appeal an 11-year prison term against leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for subversion, triggering swift condemnation from the United States and Europe.

The United States, Britain, France, Germany and the European Commission all denounced the verdict against the 54-year-old Liu, a writer and one time professor detained in December 2008 after he co-authored a bold manifesto calling for political reform in China.

“The sentence was confirmed,” one of Liu’s attorneys, Shang Baojun, told AFP after a brief hearing at the Beijing High People’s Court.

The initial December conviction of Liu, who was previously jailed over the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, sparked international condemnation and even some domestic criticism. Related article: US, Europe slam China ruling

Last month, four retired Communist Party officials signed an open letter to the government calling for a review of his case, suggesting the conviction violated some of the principles for which they had fought.

The charge of “inciting subversion of state power”, which was also related to anti-government articles written by Liu that were posted online, is commonly brought against those who voice opposition to the ruling party. Related article: We have no dissidents, China insists

The dissident’s wife Liu Xia, who was in court, told AFP she was not surprised by the verdict.

“I had prepared myself,” she said, adding she had been allowed to visit her husband in detention after the hearing.

“He was doing well. We didn’t talk about the case. He asked me what I was doing for (Chinese) New Year, that kind of thing.”

US ambassador Jon Huntsman said after the ruling that Washington was disappointed and lamented what he called the persecution of citizens expressing their political views.

“We believe that he should not have been sentenced in the first place and should be released immediately,” he said.

“Persecution of individuals for the peaceful expression of political views is inconsistent with internationally-recognised norms of human rights.”

Simon Sharpe, an official from the European Union delegation in China, told reporters at the court that the EU also wanted Liu’s unconditional release.

The EU also urged Beijing to “end the harassment and detention of other signatories of Charter 08” — which called for the overhaul of China’s one-party communist system and the protection of human rights.

In London, a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Office said the decision “once again calls into question freedom of expression in China”.

France said it was “disappointed” by the appeal confirmation, “which comes after repeated appeals for clemency by the international community”.

Germany also voiced disappointment. “With this ruling the Chinese government has unfortunately shown itself again to be unwilling to respect human rights,” said Guenter Nook, the German government’s human rights representative.

“Not only is this a missed opportunity for China, it also shows how much the communist leadership is scared of its own people,” Nook said.

According to China Human Rights Defenders, an activist network, more than 10,000 people have signed Charter 08, which has been widely circulated on the Internet.

In Hong Kong, a Chinese territory that has a different political system, a dozen activists — outnumbered three-to-one by police — protested and called for Liu’s release.

The group taped a letter with its demands on a railing outside the central government liaison office, the body responsible for the city’s ties with Beijing, after officials refused to accept its petition.

Rights group Amnesty International said that by upholding Liu’s verdict, the court had “missed an opportunity to right the wrong”.

“The message is clear — if you criticise the system outside the parameters set by the authorities or independently try to organise civil society, you will be stopped,” said Roseann Rife, the group’s Asia-Pacific deputy director. Related article: Convictions of key dissidents since 1989

On Thursday, China’s foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu again warned the West against meddling in the case, saying the nation’s “judicial and internal affairs brook no interference”.

Copyright © 2010 AFP

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