Petition for the Release of Liu Xiaobo

www.pen.org

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that a group of Chinese intellectuals have signed a petition for the release of Liu Xiaobo.  I’ve also learnt today that some Tibetan community leaders are appealing to members of their communities in China and abroad to sign the petition in support of Liu.  Here is a LINK to the online petition.

So far a total of 54 Chinese residents have put their names down.  This include famous scholars such as Xu Youyu, Mou Yushi, Qin Hui, Zhang Ming, Cui Weiping, Ai Xiaoming, Li Datong and Fu Guoyong; a Beijing based lawyer and a legal scholar; as well as writers such as Zhang Ping, Wang Lixiong, Woeser and Liu Di.

I salute these brave Chinese people for their courage.

Liu Xiaobo’s First Meeting with his Lawyer

Pro-democracy lawmakers and activities hold the picture of Liu Xiaobo protest outside the China's liaison office in Hong Kong Thursday, June 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Liu Xiaobo was eventually allowed to meet with his lawyer.  Liu’s lawyer Shang Baojun said that the meeting took place at around 3.15pm on 26 June at the Beijing Number 1 Detention Centre.   It lasted for approximately 40 minutes.

Shang found out from Liu Xiaobo that he had been detained in a house with no windows since December last year.  He was not even allowed to go outside to stretch his legs.  According to PRC legislation, under no circumstances should house arrests be extended beyond six months.  In other words, from 8 June to 23 June, Liu Xiaobo had been illegally detained.

Liu refuted the claim of a recent Xinhua press release that he had confessed to the crime of inciting subversion.  During the course of interrogation, Liu had only made two admissions: (1) He was the main contributor to the drafting of Charter 08; and (2) he had published more than 20 essays via the Internet.  However, Liu Xiaobo was adamant that none of these were illegal activities.  Nor could they be construed as inciting subversion.

Liu apologised through his lawyer to his wife and family for the suffering that they had to endure.  However he expressed no regret for his commitment to a free and democratic China.  Liu also thanked his friends in China and abroad for their support.  Liu hoped that his claim of full responsibility for Charter 08 would prevent others from sustaining further political persecutions.

According to Liu Xiaobo’s lawyer, a bail application had been filed on 25 June.  A formal reply is expected latest by next Thursday.

Source: Canyu (via Chinese Pen)

Meanwhile, a group of more than 50 intellectuals in China has signed a petition calling for the immediate release of Liu Xiaobo and the proper implementation of freedom of speech rights as stipulated in the PRC Constitution.

Source: AP (via Google News)

Liu Xiaobo Formally Arrested

chinesepen.org

Xinhua released a report a short while ago, confirming the formal arrest of Liu Xiaobo on 23 June 2009.  Liu was detained and had been placed under house arrest since 8 December 2009, a day before the release of Charter 08.  Liu was alleged to be the master mind behind the drafting of the document that asked for reforms to China’s political and legal system.

The Xinhua report reads:

新华社：刘晓波涉煽动颠覆国家政权罪被捕

（2009-06-24; 2.20 pm）

中国著名异见人士刘晓波被指涉嫌煽动颠覆国家政权罪，已于23日经检察机关批准后被逮捕

新华社报道，据公安机关侦查掌握，近年来刘晓波以造谣、诽谤等方式，煽动颠覆国家政权、推翻社会主义制度，违反了《中华人民共和国刑法》，涉嫌煽动颠覆国家政权罪，北京市公安机关依法对刘晓波立案侦查，6月23日经检察机关批准逮捕。

报道指，经初步审查，刘晓波已对公安机关指控的犯罪事实，供认不讳。

《联合早报网》

The following is my translation:

Xinhua: Liu Xiaobo arrested suspicious of inciting subversion of the State (24/6/2009 2:20pm)

The prosecutor has given permission on the 23th [of June] for the arrest of China’s prominent dissident Liu Xiaobo, who is alleged of committing the crime of inciting subversion of State authority.

According to Xinhua, Police investigation has confirmed that Liu Xiaobo’s acts of using rumour and libel to incite subversion of State power and overthrow of the socialist system are in violation of the “Criminal Legislation of the People’s Republic of China”.  He is suspected of committing the crime of inciting subversion against State authority.  The Beijing Public Security has therefore conducted an investigation in accordance with the legislation.  [Consequently] the Prosecutor has approved of Liu Xiaobo’s arrest on 23 June.

The report notes that Liu Xiaobo has confessed to the alleged crime during a preliminary Police investigation.

realtime.zaobao.com

A Beijing lawyer Mo Shaoping tells Reuters that if Liu is indicted and convicted, he will face a maximum custodian sentence of 15 years.  In other words, Liu will not be released until he is 68.  Mo has been disqualified to represent Liu because he also signed the Charter 08 petition.

UPDATE

WSJ China Journal has published a great post on Liu Xiaobo’s arrest.  The blog post contains a translation of some legal opinions that a famous Beijing based rights lawyer Liu Lu has written.  This is by far one of the best analysis of how the latest development can be interpreted and what it means for the future of Liu Xiaobo.

Baozuitun: a Chinese Blogger Who Challenges Censorship Boundaries

I am glad to announce the return of Baozuitun 饱醉豚 (or the Gluttonous Suckling Pig).  He is one of the two bloggers whose blogs at Bullog.cn were forced to close down shortly after Charter 08 was made public.  The other blogger who suffered a similar fate was Ran Yunfei.  The closing down of their blogs marked the beginning of another round of Internet censorship.  This time the censorship was conducted under the pretence of an anti-smut campaign.  In Chinese, it is known as 反低俗 (fan disu) or an anti-vulgarity campaign.  The campaign led to the demise of more than a thousand PRC-based websites.  Bullog.cn inevitably fell victim of this campaign.  The blog portal, which was popular for its tolerance towards controversial views, was eventually shut down on 8 January 2009.  Since then most of the well-known Bullog bloggers have resumed blogging.  Many of them have signed up for new blogging spaces at other portals.  Some, however, have gone a step further to setup their own independent websites.  One of them is Baozuitun.

Bullog is Harmonised? 牛博给河蟹了

I have been trying to log on to Bullog for the whole day without much success.  At first I thought it was just a technical glitch.  Thanks to a tip from Austin Ramzy at the Time China Blog, I now realise that the PRC Net Nanny may have finally moved in and shut down the entire site. When I started googling about it, I realised that the news was already all over the Chinese language blogosphere. I understand from some of the Chinese bloggers at Douban 豆瓣, another popular portal, that Bullog’s owner Luo Yonghao remains calm about the situation.

Liu Xiaobo Met with His Wife

Liu Xiaobo’s wife Liu Xia 刘霞 was granted a short visit to her husband in custody on 1 January 2009, according to Liu’s lawyer Mo Shaoping 莫少平 in an interview with Radio Free Asia.  Liu has been detained since 12 December 2008 in connection with his role in the drafting, signing and disseminating of Charter 08.  The following is my translation of relevant sections in the RFA report:

More Charter 08 Casualties: Bullog Purged, Ran Yunfei Suspended

Bullog 牛博网, a progressive blog portal, becomes the next victim of a purge that has swept across the blogosphere in China since the release of Charter 08.  As a result, Bullog lost two of its most popular bloggers: Ran Yunfei 冉云飞 and Baozuitun 饱醉豚 (literally translated as the Gluttonous Suckling Pig).  It is believed that both bloggers were suspended for publishing articles about the Charter.  Ran Yunfei is also among the first group of 303 signatories.

It is regrettable how Luo Yonghao 罗永浩, the owner of Bullog, once considered a very “bull” (Chinese Internet jargon for “cool”) blogger himself, had to succumb to pressure from the CCP censors in order to protect his site from closure. 

Update: Ai Xiaoming was not arrested

Chinese Human Rights Defender (CHRD) has published a map that details all known Charter 08-related detentions.  I was able to access the full report and the map this morning.  But apparently the CHRD site has been hacked;  I am not able to access it or link to it.  Thanks to Sophie Beach at China Digital Times, we are still able to view the map.

I quoted earlier an AsiaNews report about the alleged arrest of Professor Ai Xiaoming, one of the signatory of the Charter 08. 

European Parliament: Special Ceremony to Honour Hu Jia

From the European Parliament 15-12-2008 – 17:29 :

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought: 20th anniversary and 2008 winner Chinese political activist Hu Jia

This year’s Sakharov Prize ceremonies in Strasbourg have a dual character. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the award Parliament has invited a number of former winners of the Prize to Strasbourg. However, the winner of the Prize for 2008, Chinese dissident Hu Jia, will be unable to receive his award as he is imprisoned in China. Instead, a special ceremony will be held in Parliament’s Plenary Chamber in his honour.

UPDATE ONE: Zeng Jinyan reminds everyone in her 15 December blogpost that the award ceremony will be broadcast live at Europe/Paris time 12.00noon on Wednesday 17 December 2008.  It would be 7.00pm Beijing time or GMT 11.00am on the same day.  You can follow this link to view the broadcast.

UPDATE TWO: Zeng Jinyan wrote on 17 December that she had been invited for tea again by the State Security.  This time she was interrogated about her signature on Charter 08.  The State Security also informed her of a decision to continue to block visitors from the European Parliament.  A full translation of Ms Zeng’s blogpost can be found at Justrecently’s Beautiful Blog.

More arrests over 08 Charter

Sources from the Roman Catholic Church confirmed that Shanghai lawyer Zheng Enchong 郑恩宠 and Guangzhou university professor Ai Xiaoming 艾晓明 had been detained by the Chinese authorities in charge of public security.  The AsiaNews report says:

Arrests continue for signers of “Charter 08,” the document calling upon the government for greater democracy and respect for human rights, including religious freedom. Since yesterday, Zheng Enchong, a lawyer from Shanghai known for his help for citizens against abusive expropriation by the authorities, has been under house arrest.

One of his relatives tells the newspaper South China Morning Post that on December 10, Zheng was summoned by the police, interrogated for more than four hours, and then sent home, where he will not be permitted to go out or use the telephone.

Also on the night of the 10th, the police in Guangzhou searched the home of Professor Ai Xiaoming (in the photo) and took her away. Xiaoming teaches Chinese studies at Sun Yat-sen University, and makes documentaries about the plight of the poor and disadvantaged groups.

Other signers who have been questioned over their role in the drafting and disseminating of the Charter include Independent Chinese Pen members Wen Kejian 温克坚, Zhao Dagong 赵达功, Jiang Qisheng 江棋生, Qin Geng 秦耕 and Liu Yiming 刘逸明. Others who have been interrogated by the police are: civil rights lawyer Pu Zhiqiang 浦志强, writer Gao Yu 高瑜, spokesperson for June Fourth victims’ family Zhang Xianling 张先玲 and Internet writer Liu Di 刘荻.  Yu Jie 余杰, who was visiting the USA on the day of Liu Xiaobo’s arrest, told Radio Free Asia that the police barricaded his house.