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Demand the Immediate Release of Liu Xiaobo

His Excellency Hu Jintao
President of the People’s Republic of China
State Council
Beijing 100032
P.R. China

Mr. Cao Jianming
Procurator General
Supreme People's Procuratorate
No. 147, Beiheyan Dajie
Dongcheng District, Beijing 100726
P.R. China

To be sent via email

Subject:

Your Excellencies,

I am writing to protest the conviction and 11-year sentence handed to renowned writer, former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Center, and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, who was represented by an empty chair a year ago at the Nobel ceremony.

I understand that on December 8, 2008, police arrested Liu Xiaobo, searched his home, and confiscated computers and other materials. He was held at an undisclosed location for more than six months under “residential surveillance” before being formally arrested and charged with “inciting subversion of state power” on June 23, 2009. Liu’s case was finally sent to the prosecutor on December 8, 2009, a year to the day after his initial detention, and he was formally indicted on December 11. He was tried quickly in a closed-door hearing on December 23, 2009, and on December 25, was convicted of the charges. Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11 years in prison with two years’ deprivation of political rights for 224 Chinese characters contained in six of his essays and Charter 08. He was not permitted to give a full defense.

Liu Xiaobo is among a number of activists to have been targeted after launching Charter 08, a declaration outlining political reforms and calling for greater human rights. The manifesto, released on the eve of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, commemorated every year on December 10, was originally signed by more than 300 writers, intellectuals, and other prominent Chinese citizens, both inside and outside the government, and now boasts nearly 13,000 signatures of individuals from all walks of life.

I believe the imprisonment of Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo to be in violation of his right to freedom of expression as guaranteed by Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which China is a signatory, as well as China’s own constitution. I therefore respectfully urge you to  facilitate his immediate and unconditional release.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

[Your Name]
[Your Address]

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