呼籲中國釋放劉曉波

國際特赦組織新聞稿｜2010年2月11日

國際特赦組織今天表示，中國當局必須立即釋放一位被判刑十一年且遭北京法院駁回上訴的人權工作者。

北京市高級人民法院今天維持了劉曉波被控「煽動顛覆國家政權罪」的一審判決。劉曉波是一位倡導中國政治及司法改革的知名學者，僅因行使言論自由，在去年12月25日被判處十一年徒刑。

國際特赦組織亞太研究部副主任阮柔安（Roseann Rife）表示：「此一維持原判的決定，使法院失去了糾正錯誤的機會。對他的重刑判決，無異昭告中國人民及全世界，中國仍然沒有言論自由與司法獨立。」

多位北京維權人士從昨晚或今晨起即遭到監控，以阻止他們前往關切二審宣判。劉曉波的妻子則獲准進入法庭旁聽。

阮柔安說：「本案是一週以來第三起當局打壓維權人士的案件。它發出的訊息十分明確──只要你批評體制逾越當局設定的界限，或企圖自主地組織公民社會，必然遭到阻止。」

2月8日，被判三年的黃琦上訴被駁回；被判五年的譚作人則是2月9日。

這兩位人權捍衛者都曾為2008年四川震災以及1989年六四鎮壓的死難學生要求追究責任。

劉曉波是〈零八憲章〉的共同起草者之一。這份文件主張中國應進行政治及司法改革。在〈零八憲章〉預計發佈之前兩天，2008年12月8日，劉曉波被警察從家中帶走。憲章發佈後，許多憲章連署者也遭到訊問或騷擾，但只有劉曉波一人被起訴受審。

諾貝爾和平獎得主哈維爾（Vaclav Havel）與達賴喇嘛，以及許多其他人，都支持提名劉曉波爭取諾貝爾和平獎。哈維爾曾參與起草〈七七憲章〉，即發表於1977年、要求捷克尊重人權的一份文件，也是〈零八憲章〉的構想來源。

好幾位〈零八憲章〉的連署人都曾要求與劉曉波共同承擔法律責任，還有幾位資深中共黨員，包括胡績偉、沙葉新等，公表致國家主席胡錦濤的公開信，質疑劉曉波被判刑的法律基礎。

更多有關劉曉波的資訊請見：
- Urgent Action for Liu Xiaobo, fear of torture and other ill-treatment, Index: ASA 17/030/2009, 24 June 2009
- Trial of Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo begins this week, 22 December 2009

[ENGLISH]

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release, 11 February 2010

Chinese authorities urged to free activist Liu Xiaobo

The Chinese authorities must immediately release a human rights activist whose appeal against an 11 year prison sentence was rejected by a Beijing court, Amnesty International said today.

The Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court today upheld Liu Xiaobo's prison sentence for "inciting subversion of state power". Liu Xiaobo, a well-known scholar and advocate of political and legal reform in China, was given an 11 year prison sentence on 25 December simply for exercising his right to freedom of expression.

"By upholding the verdict the court missed an opportunity to right the wrong. His harsh sentence is a stark reminder to the Chinese people and the world that there is still no freedom of expression or independent judiciary in China," said Roseann Rife, Asia-Pacific Deputy Director at Amnesty International.

Several Beijing activists were placed under surveillance beginning last night or early this morning and prevented from attending the sentencing. Liu Xiaobo’s wife was allowed into the court room.

"The case is the third this week which has seen the authorities crack down on activists. The message is clear, if you criticize the system outside the parameters set by the authorities or independently try to organize civil society, you will be stopped." said Roseann Rife.

On 8 February Huang Qi's appeal against a three year prison sentence was dismissed, while Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years in prison on 9 February.

Both are human rights defenders who have called for accountability for the deaths of children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and the military crackdown on the 1989 pro-democracy movement in Beijing.

Liu Xiaobo co-authored Charter 08 - a proposal for political and legal reform in China. The police took Liu Xiaobo from his home in Beijing on 8 December 2008, two days before the planned launch of Charter 08. Numerous signatories of the charter have been questioned and harassed by Chinese authorities since its launch but no one but Liu Xiaobo has been charged or tried.

Nobel Peace Price Laureates Vaclav Havel and the Dalai Lama, alongside many others, have supported the nomination of Liu Xiaobo for the Nobel Peace Price. Vaclav Havel co-wrote Charter 77, a document calling for respect of human rights in 1977 in Czechoslovakia on which the Charter 08 was modelled.

Several other signatories of Charter 08 have asked to share the responsibility with Liu Xiaobo and a group of senior Communist Party members including Hu Jiwei and Sha Yexin issued a letter to President Hu Jiantao questioning the legal grounds for Liu Xiaobo's sentence.

For more information on Liu Xiaobo, see:
- Urgent Action for Liu Xiaobo, fear of torture and other ill-treatment, Index: ASA 17/030/2009, 24 June 2009
- Trial of Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo begins this week, 22 December 2009