China activist Liu Xianbin jailed for 10 years
Liu Xianbin was previously jailed for taking part in the nationwide protests of 1989A Chinese democracy activist has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for inciting subversion of state power.
Liu Xianbin was charged after writing a series of articles calling for democratic reforms.
He was convicted after a trial lasting only a few hours; the third time he has been sent to jail for his activism.
Dozens of lawyers and activists have been arrested or detained in China recently following calls for Middle East-style protests.
'Not guilty'
Liu Xianbin's trial, in Suining in Sichuan Province, lasted just a few hours, according to his wife, who attended the hearing.
Chen Mingxian told the BBC that her husband shouted, "I'm not guilty" in the courtroom.
Speaking after the verdict, she said the charges against her husband were trumped up.
"Today I saw how legal tools were used to convict someone who is not guilty," she said.
Liu Xianbin was previously sent to prison for two-and-a-half years for taking part in the nationwide protests of 1989.
When he was released, he continued his campaigning.
In 1998 he helped found the Sichuan branch of the China Democracy Party, an underground group that the authorities never allowed to develop.
The following year he was sent to prison for 13 years for the subversion of state power.
The activist was released in 2008 and again threw himself into campaign work, supporting Charter 08, the political manifesto partly drafted by last year's Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
He also wrote articles critical of China's one-party political system.
Essays, such as one entitled Constitutional Democracy for China: Escaping Eastern Autocracy, will not have endeared him to the Chinese authorities.
The government in Beijing has appeared nervous since the wave of protests began in the Middle East and North Africa.
Many activists and lawyers here have been detained, held under house arrest or harassed by the security forces.
Human rights organisations say this contravenes not just international treaties, but also China's own constitution.
Source : BBC
China Update: Liu Xianbin tried and sentenced to 10 years imprisoment
Mr. Liu Xianbin, ICPC honorary member and a recipient of its 2010 Liu Xiaobo Courage to Write Award, has been tried and sentenced this morning by Suining Intermediate People's Court, Sichun Province, to 10 years imprisonment with further 2 years and 4 months deprivation of political rights for inciting subversion of the state power. The. Trial last for about 2 hours, including 1 hour and half for the court hearing and half hour for adjournment before the verdict announcement.
Liu’s wife, Ms. Chen Mingxian, was among 21 individuals allowed to attend the trial. Liu’s two lawyers, one of whom is appointed by juridical authorities, attended the trial and pleaded innocence. According to his wife, Liu was just allowed to speak his arguments in a few minutes and was frequently interrupted by the judge to shorten his statements. He was not allowed to read his written “last statement” at all and so he gave just two short sentences: “I am innocent! I protest against this trial!” None of the arguments from the defense has been accepted by the Court in its verdict. Among the evidences used against Liu, a forced testimony of his daughter of 13 years old is also included despite of the argument and protest from the defense.
According to the court verdict, Liu’s conviction is just based on a number of quotations from his publication of several articles at some overseas Chinese e-journals during a period from August 2009 to June 2010, mainly "Two Decades of My Pro-democracy Experience (1): Arrest of Chen Wei”, "Street Campaign: An Important Form of Pro-democracy Movement", including "100 days since Release from Prison", and "Choice of A Civil Road after the Severe Sentence on Liu Xiaobo", respectively published on the e-journals "Humanity and Human Rights", "Democratic China", etc. He has been condemned as a recidivist for severe punishment, including 4 months deprivation of political rights that is transferred from the remaining part of his previous sentence. 10 years imprisonment is the second severe sentence after Liu Xiaobo’s record of 11 years sentence on the same offence of “inciting subversion”.
For more information, contact
Dr. Yu Zhang,
Executive Secretary and WiPC Coordinator
Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC)
Tel: +46-8-50022792
Email: yuzhang08@live.se, wipc@comhem.se
Websites: http://www.chinesepen.org/ and http://www.liuxiaobo.eu/
courtesy: Yu Zhang fron Facebook
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