Liu Xiaobo of Charter 08 accused of "subversion against the power of the state"

The petitioner (and perhaps the author) of the Charter 08 demanded political reforms, freedom of association, independence of the judiciary. He risks at least 15 years in prison. The police refuse Mo Shaoping, the defence lawyer chosen by his wife because he too is a signatory of Charter 08.

Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Liu Xiaobo, one of the most important human rights activists has been officially charged with "subversion against the power of the state." Liu was arrested by police last December and brought to an unknown place. After having formalised accusation, the government will now detain him in some prison in the country.

Xinhua quoted police as saying in a statement “Liu has been engaged in agitation activities, such as spreading of rumours and defaming of the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years”. If indicted and convicted, the 53-year-old dissident could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison.

Liu was arrested on December 8 for helping to spread the appeal of Charter 08, a document signed by 300 people requesting the Chinese government to respect human rights, implement political reforms and to ensure the independence of the judiciary. The document was published on the occasion of the 60 years since the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to the police Liu must have been the author of the petition, which has collected more than 9 thousand signatures. The appeal of the Charter 08 was censored on websites and many of the signatories - including members of the Party - have been subjected to interrogations, police inspections, arrests.

According to information from the CHRD (Chinese Human Rights Defenders), Beijing Public Security reported the arrest and formal charges against Liu yesterday at 11 to the dissident's wife, Liu Xia. The police also said that the state does not accept, as defence lawyers Mo Shaoping and Shang Baojun, chosen by Liu’s wife. The authorities say they can not defend the accused because Mo is one of the signatories of Charter 08.

For decades now Liu Xiaobo has been at the heart of protests against the government. In ‘89, on the eve of the Tiananmen massacre, to push the leadership to dialogue with the movement, he participated in hunger strikes carried out by students on the square. He was among the last to leave Tiananmen Square, watching the massacre and was subjected to 2 years in prison. The crime of "inciting subversion against the power of the State" was adopted by the Chinese criminal code in 1997 and is used on a regular basis against persons who only seek freedom of expression. There are dozens of non-violent dissidents imprisoned for this reason. Among them there is also Hu Jia, winner of the Sakharov Prize in 2008, who is serving 3 ½ years in prison for having published some articles on the web on the need for democracy in China.