According to Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), on January 6, Former Czech President Václav Havel, actor Pavel Landovský, and Bishop Václav Malý visited the Chinese Embassy in Prague to hand over a proclamation demanding the immediate release of prominent Chinese dissident and principal author of “Charter ‘08,” Liu Xiaobo.  Liu was sentenced to 11 years in jail on December 25 for “inciting subversion of state power.”  However, the Chinese Embassy failed to open the door to receive the proclamation.

“Charter ‘08,” a public appeal calling for bold reforms that promote democracy and human rights in China, was published via the Internet in December 2008; Liu was arrested for posting the appeal that same month.  He was detained for over a year awaiting his trial.  “Charter ‘08” was inspired by “Charter 77,” which was an informal civic initiative in Czechoslovakia from 1977 to 1992, which criticized the government for failing to implement human rights provisions.

To read more information from CHRD, go to: http://crd-net.org/Article/Class9/Class98/201001/20100106225916_19319.html

To read a previous alert, go to: www.wmd.org/alerts/update-chinese-dissident-liu-xiaobo-sentenced-11-year...