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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

End the practice of viewing words as crimes: Chinese Author on Trial

Liu Xiaobo, the influential Chinese dissident and author, stood trial this morning after being taken into custody by the Chinese government over a year ago for threatening the authority of the Communist Party. Today he was indicted for "incitement to subvert state power" mainly for his advocation of free speech and human rights in the Charter 08 manifesto that called for an "end [to] the practice of viewing words as crimes."

"The only purpose of this trial is to dress up naked political repression in the trappings of legal proceedings. Liu's crimes are non-existent, yet his fate has been pre-determined. This is a travesty of justice," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

Mr. Liu faces up to 15 years in prison if he is convicted this Friday, Christmas day.

posted by nthWORD at 9:32 AM

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