OTTAWA—The Canadian government on Friday condemned China for sentencing Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison and called for the unconditional release of the prominent pro-democracy activist.
“Canada deplores the sentencing of Liu Xiaobo, whom we believe is being punished for exercising his right to peaceful and non-violent freedom of expression,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon in a statement on Christmas Day.
An internationally renowned writer and political commentator, Mr. Liu was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” for coauthoring an open letter calling for legal reforms, democracy, and human rights protection in China.
“Charter 08,” a petition initially signed by 303 Chinese citizens including scholars, journalists, workers, peasants, and business owners has been co-signed by more than 10,000 people online, including on Facebook and Twitter, since it was published on Dec. 10, 2008.
The document’s release was timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day last year, which also marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mr. Liu, who will turn 54 on Dec. 28, was detained on Dec. 8 last year and held for more than six months before being formally charged in June 2009.
He was indicted on Dec. 10 and the sentence was handed down on Dec. 23 by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. The defence was given about 15 minutes to present its argument in the trial which lasted under three hours.[xtypo_info]New Tang Dynasty Television reports on the reaction of Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, on the sentencing of her husband. (NTDTV)[/xtypo_info]
“Canada is concerned by Mr. Liu’s lengthy detention, which began a year ago. We are also deeply concerned by the circumstances of his trial, which was not open, and to which family members and foreign observers—including Canadian Embassy representatives—were denied access,” Mr. Cannon said.
“As we have done since Mr. Liu’s detention began, Canada once again urges China to release him without condition.”
Mr. Liu was among 11 political prisoners on a list that the Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China submitted to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last month urging him to call for their release during his China trip from Dec. 2 to 6.
The 13-member coalition includes Amnesty International Canada, PEN Canada, Rights & Democracy, Canada Tibet Committee, Uyghur Canadian Association, Falun Dafa Association of Canada, among other groups.
From 2003 to 2007 Mr. Liu served as president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, one of 145 centres in 104 countries associated with International PEN, an organization of writers that works for freedom of expression and freedom of the press around the world.
Mr. Liu had earlier been jailed for 20 months for his support of the democracy movement in June 1989. In the late 1990s he was imprisoned in a Chinese re-education-through-labour camp for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
“Canada deplores the sentencing of Liu Xiaobo, whom we believe is being punished for exercising his right to peaceful and non-violent freedom of expression,” said Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon in a statement on Christmas Day.
An internationally renowned writer and political commentator, Mr. Liu was charged with “inciting subversion of state power” for coauthoring an open letter calling for legal reforms, democracy, and human rights protection in China.
“Charter 08,” a petition initially signed by 303 Chinese citizens including scholars, journalists, workers, peasants, and business owners has been co-signed by more than 10,000 people online, including on Facebook and Twitter, since it was published on Dec. 10, 2008.
The document’s release was timed to coincide with International Human Rights Day last year, which also marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Mr. Liu, who will turn 54 on Dec. 28, was detained on Dec. 8 last year and held for more than six months before being formally charged in June 2009.
He was indicted on Dec. 10 and the sentence was handed down on Dec. 23 by the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court. The defence was given about 15 minutes to present its argument in the trial which lasted under three hours.[xtypo_info]New Tang Dynasty Television reports on the reaction of Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, on the sentencing of her husband. (NTDTV)[/xtypo_info]
“Canada is concerned by Mr. Liu’s lengthy detention, which began a year ago. We are also deeply concerned by the circumstances of his trial, which was not open, and to which family members and foreign observers—including Canadian Embassy representatives—were denied access,” Mr. Cannon said.
“As we have done since Mr. Liu’s detention began, Canada once again urges China to release him without condition.”
Mr. Liu was among 11 political prisoners on a list that the Canadian Coalition on Human Rights in China submitted to Prime Minister Stephen Harper last month urging him to call for their release during his China trip from Dec. 2 to 6.
The 13-member coalition includes Amnesty International Canada, PEN Canada, Rights & Democracy, Canada Tibet Committee, Uyghur Canadian Association, Falun Dafa Association of Canada, among other groups.
From 2003 to 2007 Mr. Liu served as president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, one of 145 centres in 104 countries associated with International PEN, an organization of writers that works for freedom of expression and freedom of the press around the world.
Mr. Liu had earlier been jailed for 20 months for his support of the democracy movement in June 1989. In the late 1990s he was imprisoned in a Chinese re-education-through-labour camp for his criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
“The conviction and extremely harsh sentencing of Liu Xiaobo mark a further servere restriction on the scope of freedom of expression in China,” said Navi Pillay, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right, in a statement on Friday.
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