According to Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD), in January, the Beijing Upper Court refused to grant Liu Xiaobo’s request for an appeal hearing.  Liu, a prominent Chinese dissident and principal author of “Charter ‘08,” was sentenced to 11 years in jail on December 25 for “inciting subversion of state power.”  “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. 

Also, Vaclav Havel, former dissident and first president of the Czech Republic (1993–2003), expressed strong solidarity and sympathy with Liu Xiaobo in a recent interview with Sharon Hom, executive director of Human Rights in China and World Movement participant.  Havel said: “It’s incumbent upon us, who have lived through those times and those experiences … to be among the first ones to show solidarity with those who are persecuted for the same reasons.”  Havel emphasized that solidarity can send a clear message to the Chinese government that “it can’t just do whatever it wishes.”

Human Rights in China will publish the full interview with Vaclav Havel in the 2010-1 issue of “China Rights Forum,” an issue on freedom of expression, including a comprehensive dossier on Liu Xiaobo’s case.

For more information on the appeal, go to (in Chinese): www.crd-net.org/Article/Class18/lxb/201001/20100121130737_19539.html

For more information about Sharon Hom’s interview with Vaclav Havel, go to: www.hrichina.org

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