By M.E. Dodge
Impunity Watch Reporter, Asia
BEIJING, China – One of China’s best known and well-respected democracy advocates, Liu Xiabo, was turned down again by a court in Beijing in an appeal after being sentenced to eleven years in prison.
Human Rights advocates have spoken out that the Beijing Municipal Higher People’s Court convicted Liu, and sentenced him with an unusually harsh sentence. Many believe that he received such a sentence because he not only played a key role in organizing Charter 08 – a petition for political freedom and an end to the ruling Communist party’s monopoly of power. The online petition has garnered thousands of signatures since it was released just over a year ago. Many believe, however, that Liu’s status as a scholar and his academic background are the real reasons he was convicted of “inciting subversion of state power,” say human rights activists.
According to Amnesty International, several Beijing human rights activists were placed under surveillance following the decision on Liu’s appeal. “By upholding the verdict, the court missed an opportunity to right the wrong,” said Roseann Rife, the deputy director for Asia and the Pacific at Amnesty International. “His harsh sentence is a stark reminder to the Chinese people and the world that there is still no freedom of expression or independent judiciary in China.”
Human Rights activists, however, are not the only voices speaking out against the decision, Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., United States ambassador to China, uttered his concerns. Huntsman denounced Liu’s verdict, stating, “We believe that he should not have been sentenced in the first place and should be released immediately.”
About twenty other foreign diplomats showed their support for Liu by appearing outside the court. A statement from the European Union declared that the decision “is entirely incompatible with his right to freedom of expression.”
The denial of Liu’s appeal is not the only hard-line decision recently issued by Chinese officials. In the same week, one human rights activist in Sichuan was sentenced to five years in jail for having publicly blamed the earthquake deaths of thousands of children on shoddily built schools, another who had helped distraught parents planning to sue the authorities had his appeal against a three-year prison term turned down, and a young factory worker who said he had joined a banned political party because he did not like the Communist party’s abuse of power was found guilty of subversion by a court in the southern boomtown of Shenzhen and sentenced to 18 months in jail.
Many fear the string of convictions and harsh sentencing to continue for activists, but human rights advocates are speaking out and attempting to reform China’s severe treatment.
For more information, please see:
The New York Times – Chinese Court Denies Appeal by Jailed Activist – 12 February 2010
Wall Street Journal – China Sentences Earthquake Activist – 10 February 2010
The Guardian – Chinese dissident’s appeal rejected – 11 February 2010
