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: JURIST - The Paper Chase

China rights activist sentenced to 11 years in prison for subversion

By Bernard Hibbitts (editor) and University of Pittsburgh School of Law students.

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[JURIST] Chinese rights activist Liu Xiabo was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Friday on subversion charges. Liu was tried on Wednesday in a trial that lasted only two hours and was closed to foreign diplomats. The trial was called "a travesty of justice" by international human rights groups. Human Rights Watch said before the trial that although "Liu's crimes are non-existent ... his fate has been pre-determined." It is unclear whether Liu's legal team will appeal the sentence. Liu, who spent two years in prison following the Tiananmen Square uprising, has long challenged China's one-party rule, and co-authored Charter 08, a petition calling for political reforms in the country. Liu was formally arrested in June and charged earlier this month, but he has been in detention since last December, shortly before the petition's release. In June, rights groups marked the 20th anniversary of the 1989 uprising in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, calling for the government to investigate the incident and implement changes called for by Charter 08.

Full post as published by JURIST - The Paper Chase on December 25, 2009 (boomark / email).