Dissident Liu Xiaobo has been sentenced to 11 years on charges of “inciting subversion of state power.” AP reports:
The sentencing of Liu Xiaobo comes despite international appeals for his release, which China sternly rejected as interference in its internal affairs.
Liu was the co-author of an unusually direct appeal for political liberalization in China called Charter 08. He was detained just before it was released last December. More than 300 people, including some of China’s top intellectuals, signed it.
The verdict was issued at the No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court in Beijing after a two-hour trial Wednesday where prosecutors accused Liu of ”serious” crimes.
”All I can tell you now is 11 years,” the defendant’s wife, Liu Xia, told The Associated Press. Diplomats said they were told by Liu’s lawyers that he had been deprived of his political rights for a further two years.
See also a Reuters report and this news on the web, via
The Chinese Communist Party’s Central Propaganda Department has issued an order to all Chinese search engines to block search results for the term “11 years.” But some netizens have just opened a Baidu forum under the keyword “11 years” here. Almost all comments are in support of Liu Xiaobo.
On Chinese Google, “Liu Xiaobo” and “Case of Liu Xiaobo” are among top ten fastest rising search terms.
Updates: On Twitter, thousands of Twitterers put yellow ribbons on their profiles to show support for Liu Xiaobo. CDT translated a few tweets as examples:
@aiww: The sentence is only on Liu Xiaobo, but the slap slams across every Chinese person’s face. Ai Weiwei
这刑是加在晓波身上，可耳贴子是煽在每一个中国人的脸上。
@leungmantao: I was going to stay away from blogs and micro-blogs, but I really can’t help it today.
From now on, “Merry Christmas” is a coded greeting among Chinese, it means: Remember Liu Xiaobo.
本想遠離微博和博客，但今天忍不住了。從此之後，「聖誕快樂」是中國人的一句暗語，它的意思是記住曉波。
@cuiweiping: Thirty years ago, Wei Jingsheng was sentenced to 15 years. Thirty years later, Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years. We spent thirty years in exchange for four years of progress.
30年前魏京生判了15年，30年后刘晓波判了11年，我们用30年的时间，换来4年的进步。
@ye_du: According to sister Gao Yu, Charter 08 has 4024 characters. 4024 divided by 11 comes to 365. So Xiaobo is jailed one day for each Chinese character of Charter 08.
高瑜大姐刚刚和我说，她刚计算出：零八宪章4024个字，除以11正好等于365，为了宪章，晓波要一个字坐一天监狱。
@zhangfacai: I have finished reading the indictment. I could not tell if it was indicting Xiaobo or f**king indicting themselves.
看完审判书了，也他妈不知道是审判刘晓波还是审判他们自己。
@mashaofang: He is already sentenced, so let me tell something true. Last November, inside Beijing Wansheng Bookstore, Xiaobo, Liu Xia [wife of Liu Xiaobo] and Professor He Weifang talked about Charter 08. I said, the cost will be someone going to jail. I do not want Xiaobo to go to jail again. Xiaobo said, if the cost for peacefully signing onto a Charter is imprisonment, I will do this without hesitation. His wife said: He is not afraid. I support him firmly!
人已被判，我就说个真事。去年11月，北京万圣书店内，晓波师，刘霞师母，还有卫方老师。当时说到宪章的事，我说，这可能会被抓的，我不想晓波师再坐牢，晓波师说，若是和平宪章签署都要坐牢，我就坚决去坐。师母说：他已无畏，我坚决支持！
@my1989: I just received a response from the signature group of Charter 08: Thank you for your support. Greetings to the veteran of the Square. Fighting for tomorrow. I am also a veteran from the Square.
收到宪章签名小组回执：谢谢支持。向老兵问候！为明天奋斗！ 签名整理小组 也是老兵
