The Story of Liu Xiaobo


Liu Xiaobo (born 28 December 1955) is a Chinese literary scholar and politcal activist, and was taken from his home in Beijing on the 8th of December 2008.

The Chinese Authorities failed to give Liu Xiaobo's family details on where he was detained, or to provide a detention notice within 24 hours.

Although possible that Liu Xiaobo was arrested for his part in Charter 08 (see below), only two signatories are known to have been detained. The Other Signatory to have been arrested is Zhang Zhuhua (see below).

    * Charter 08 is a document signed by numerous Chinese scholars, Officials and Lawyers detailing a framework for Political Reform in China. Since its launch on the 10th of December 2008, numerous signatories have been questioned and harrased by the Authorities.


Liu Xiaobo was arrested some two days before the Official Launch, and it appears likely that he is considered a "Major Suspect" according to Article 69 of the Chinese Criminal Procedure law. The scholar has previously spent several years in detention, and has been arbitrarily arrested twice both for his writings and  for his support of the democracy movement in 1989.

Liu Xiaobo also participated in the Tiananmen square protest of 1989, which famously ended when the Peoples Liberation Army dispatched violence against the peaceful protesters.

In 2004, 'Reporters without Borders' honoured Liu's  work by awarding him Fondation de France Prize.

The scholar is perhaps one of the most well known dissident writers in China.

Amnesty International is in the process of demanding that Liu Xiaobo is released, or that the necessary information is at least released by the Chinese Authorities. They believe that prosecuting Liu Xiaobo would be yet another example of the Chinese using their legal system to quash supporters of legal reform.

It has been reported that Liu Xiaobo is under 'House Arrest' at an un-disclosed location in the suburbs on Beijing, a procedure generally known to precede a trial, several news sources are also reporting that Liu will be prosecuted for 'subversion of state power.'

Zhang Zhuhua was released after some 12 Hours of Interrogation.

Unfortunately 2009 is likely to bring with it many more arbitrary arrests, it is a year of Politically sensitive anniversaries such as 20 Years since Tiananmen Square, 50 Years since the Dalai Lama was exiled, and 60 Years since the People Republic of China was founded.
There was a heavy crackdown on dissidents reported before the Olympic Games, so we can expect to see another for each of these occasions.

Action.

Sign the Online Petition for the release of Liu Xiaobo



More Information

For more information about Liu Xiaobo and China's human Rights in general, visit these links;

    * Human Rights in China
    * English Translation of Charter 08
    * Amnesty International
    * BBC News
    * WikiPedia