On Christmas Day a court in Beijing sentenced the distinguished writer and activist Liu Xiaobo to 11 years in prison and two years deprivation of political rights for exercising the right of free expression that he has both under international law and the Chinese Constitution. That is why we, Members of the PEN American Center, are here today on the steps of this great American library, symbol of our country and our city’s respect for the written word. We want to express and explain our outrage, to commit ourselves to working for Liu’s release, and to urge all those in this country and around the world who care about free expression to join us.
China is a civilization of astonishing achievement and we want—we need—to hear her voices. But if they want to be taken seriously, the country’s rulers will have to learn to respect the basic human rights of her own people. We criticize our own government when it fails to do that. We ask of China only what we ask of ourselves.
Tomorrow will ring in the year of the 50th anniversary of PEN’s activism on behalf of writers who face persecution because of their work. PEN has defended many brave and distinguished writers over the years. And we are hopeful that if we keep up the pressure, we will be able to add Liu Xiaobo to the list.
Liu Xiaobo has been condemned to 11 years in prison for seven published sentences. These sentences consisted of just 224 Chinese characters. In their official verdict, the Beijing Court cited the exact passages from Liu’s writings that were judged to be subversive. Some of the passages are not full sentences, but mere phrases; others are simply the titles of articles that Liu had written. Two of the sentences come from Charter 08, a manifesto calling for democratic reforms in China, a manifesto he helped to write and which has been signed by hundreds of other brave Chinese men and women. The other five sentences come from articles Liu posted on the Internet.
Today we are going to read all seven sentences, along with poems that Liu Xiaobo wrote during a term of three years of “reeducation through labor” that he served in the late ‘90s. These will be interspersed with excerpts from the shameful official verdict of the court that sentenced him last week. We are proud to stand here in solidarity with our fellow writer, Liu Xiaobo, and with his family, and we call again for his release. We ask all of you gathered here—all of you who hear this appeal—to join us in our campaign. And to him, we say: Old friend, we will not forget you, we will not rest until you are free. |
LISTEN | 
