December 23, 2009
A Joint Statement on the Trial of Dr Liu Xiaobo
We, the undersigned, are extremely outraged at the news that Dr. Liu
Xiaobo, the best-known dissident writer and one of the most renowned
intellectuals in China, is to be tried in Beijing on 23rd of December
2009 solely for his writings. We strongly condemn this most recent
move of Chinese regime to signify its increasing challenge to the
universal values of freedom, democracy and human rights regardless of
the widespread international and domestic criticisms of its ruthless
violations of Chinese citizens’ rights in general and continuous
detention of Dr. Liu Xiaobo in particular.
Dr. Liu Xiaobo, an internationally-recognized literary critic and
political commentator as well as the former and Honorary President of
Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC), has been detained since 8th of
December 2008 and was indicted a year later on 11th of December 2009
on “inciting subversion of state power” for participating in drafting
Charter 08, a petition for
constitutional reform in China that has been so far cosigned by more
than 10,000 Chinese citizens, as well as for criticizing Chinese
Communist one-party dictatorship in six articles of his publications
since 2005. In the afternoon of Sunday the 20th of December 2009, Dr.
Liu’s defence lawyers got a short notice for him to be tried by the
Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court in 3 days, but his wife Mrs.
Liu Xia has been informed by the court not to attend the hearing.
There are also reports that more and more of ICPC members and Charter
08 signatoriesover the country, including ICPC Secretary-general Zhao
Dagong and his deputy Jiang Danwen, have been interrogated, warned or
even house-arrested by the police to
prevent them from reacting publicly against the trial.
We believe that to try Dr. Liu Xiaobo is not only to unscrupulously
abuse the rule of law, but also to try all of us who share with Dr.
Liu the responsibility to exercise the freedom of expression anywhere
in the world. Therefore, we call on other communities, institutions
and individuals to join us in solidarity to press for the immediate
and unconditional release of Dr. Liu Xiaobo, and for ending the
persecution and harassment of ICPC members and Charter 08
signatories.
Co-signed by organizations:
Independent Chinese PEN Center
PEN American Center
Swiss German PEN
PEN Center USA
Sydney PEN
Melbourne PEN
South African PEN
Belgian Dutch-Speaking PEN
Trieste PEN
Quebec PEN
German PEN
PEN Club of Cuban Writers in Exile
Iranian PEN Centre in Exile
PEN Canada
Swedish PEN
Uyghur PEN
Basque PEN
Portuguese PEN
Colombian PEN
Sierra Leone PEN Centre
PEN Guadalajara
French PEN
Czech PEN
Norwegian PEN
German-speaking Writers Abroad PEN
Finnish PEN
English PEN
Swiss Roman PEN
Danish PEN
Netherlands PEN
Catalan PEN
Hong Kong Chinese PEN
Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of
China
Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union
Hong Kong Journalists Association
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese
China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
Green Radio
Christians for Hong Kong Society
Hong Kong Christian Patriotic Democratic Movement
The Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong
Tiananmen Mothers Campaign
Princeton China Initiative
Support Network for the Persecuted in China
The Qi’s Cultural Foundation
Laogai Foundation
Beijing Spring
Vietnamese Writers in Exile Center
and by individuals:
Dr. John Ralston Saul, current international president of
International PEN
Joanne Leedom-Ackerman, vice-president of International PEN
Eugene Schoulgin, international secretary of International PEN
Marian Botsford Fraser, chairperson of Writers-in-Prison Committee of
International PEN and the former President of PEN Canada
Dr. Karin Clark, former chairperson of Writers-in-Prison Committee of
International PEN and German writer
Dr. Cecilia Balcázar, member of Colombian Academy of Letters and
former Board member of International PEN
Kjell Olaf Jensen, former president of Norwegian PEN
Chaim Noll, German-Israeli writer born in former GDR
Dr. Antonio Della Rocca, Vice President of Trieste PEN
Job Degenaar，President of Writers in Prison Committee of The
Netherlands PEN
Nguyên Hoàng Bao Viêt, Member of Swiss Roman PEN and of United Nations
Society of Writers in Geneva
Lisa Appignanesi, president of English PEN
Ian Buruma, Anglo-Dutch writer and winner of Erasmus Prize (2008)
Fawzia Assaad, member of Swiss Roman PEN & Egypt PEN
Fariba Marzban, deputy president of Iranian PEN in Exile, journalist,
writer and political activist for human rights
Rubén Darío Flórez Arcila, secretary general of Colombian PEN and
Professor of Semiotics at Universidad Nacional de Colombia
Anthony Fleischer, president of South Africa PEN
(more to join)
For more information, contact
Dr. Yu Zhang
Executive Secretary and WiPC Coordinator
Independent Chinese PEN Center (ICPC)
Tel: +46-8-50022792
Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address),yuzhang08@live.se