Thursday, December 24, 2009

Human Rights in China

Timed to coincide with Christmas in order to further sideline Western interest, the Chinese government is putting one of the writers of Charter 08 on trial on the charge of inciting to subvert state power, a charge which is routinely used to jail dissidents and carries a penalty of up to 15 years incarceration.

Charter 08 is translated in full at Human Rights in China

On December 25th, the court sentenced Liu Xiaobo to 11 years imprisonment.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:
"Liu, a former Beijing Normal University professor, spent 20 months in jail for joining the student-led protests in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

More than 300 international writers, including Umberto Eco, Salman Rushdie and Margaret Atwood, have urged his release."

Merry Christmas, Mr Lui.

No comments:

Post a Comment