thanks for the christmas gift, socialist china

[demoleft]

Eleven-year jail sentence for free speech activist Liu Xiaobo, court sneakily issues verdict on Christmas Day

Reporters Without Borders is profoundly shocked by this unbelievable and outrageous sentence. A Beijing court today (dec. 25) sentenced leading Chinese free speech activist Liu Xiaobo to eleven years in prison on a charge of subverting state authority for posting outspoken articles online and helping to draft Charter 08, a call for democratic reform. He had been facing a possible 15-year sentence. The dissident said he would appeal.

“It is a disgrace that Liu Xiaobo is going to spend the next eleven years in prison when all he did was defend free expression and participate in a debate about his country’s future with many other Chinese intellectuals,” Reporters Without Borders said. “It is also disgraceful that such a sentence was announced on Christmas Day.”

The press freedom organisation added: “Where are the universal values of freedom of expression that China is supposed to represent in Shanghai in 2010? The national and international pressure for this famous dissident’s release must be redoubled. The international community must not be manipulated by the Chinese authorities, who are trying to minimise reaction by concluding this case during the end-of-year holidays.”

source: rsf, http://www.rsf.org/Eleven-year-jail-sentence-for-free.html
(my bold)



In an interview publish on Times Online in April, Lieu said: “The Internet is God’s present to China. It is the best tool for the Chinese people in their project to cast off slavery and strive for freedom (…) The Internet has brought about the awakening of ideas among the Chinese. This worries the government, which has placed great importance on blocking the Internet to exert ideological control (…) The scandals that are censored in the traditional media are disseminated through the Internet. The government now has to release information and officials may have to publicly apologise.”

In a message posted on the website of the PEN American Centre in February 2006, Liu said: “We, writers, who are writing in mainland China, who are writing in the Chinese language, are often called dissident writers by others (...) We will not yield to the pressure (…) we will maintain the spirit of the freedom of writing. I want to make an appeal again to writers throughout the world, to continue to pay attention to Chinese writers and their conditions of writing and thus help them to obtain their freedom of writing.”

source: http://www.rsf.org/In-a-dangerous-move-police-finally.html

[Heidi]

1. Recommended.

And, hi, you! :hug:

[demoleft]

3. hi you there. :) n/t

[TexasObserver]

2. Recommend, for the grim reminder that China suppresses basic rights.

[snagglepuss]

4. Where do get off calling China socialist? Sweden is socialist and China

ain't no Sweden. That said I hope the entire Politburo rots to death.

[demoleft]

5. i agree. but that politburo calls itself "socialist" now...

...putting a new label on the old communist one.

i hope it rots to death as well.

[ima_sinnic]

6. the US mission of "spreading democracy" applies only to weak countries

with lots of oil or other resources to be stolen.
For large countries with a massive army it means getting great discounts for Wal-Mart.