{"id":6188,"date":"2015-12-08T01:12:34","date_gmt":"2015-12-08T06:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/?p=6188"},"modified":"2016-02-09T08:55:52","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T13:55:52","slug":"china-seven-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/china-seven-years","title":{"rendered":"China: Seven years after his arrest PEN writers urge China to release Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo and wife Liu Xia"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"lxb\"<\/a>‘Free expression<\/em> is the base<\/em> of human rights<\/em>, the root<\/em> of human nature<\/em> and the mother<\/em> of truth<\/em>. To kill free speech<\/em> is to insult human rights<\/em>, to stifle human nature<\/em> and to suppress truth<\/em>.\u2019 \u2013 Liu Xiaobo<\/p>\n

8 December 2015 \u2013 Today marks the\u00a0seventh anniversary of the arrest of\u00a0Nobel Peace Laureate and former president of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre Liu Xiaobo.\u00a0As writers,\u00a0PEN members and supporters,\u00a0we stand in continued solidarity with Liu Xiaobo and\u00a0his wife, the artist and poet Liu Xia, who has been under an illegal house arrest for more than five years.<\/p>\n

Chinese poet and human rights defender Liu Xiaobo was arrested on 8 December 2008, and\u00a0sentenced to\u00a011\u00a0years in\u00a0prison for his dissident writings and peaceful activism.\u00a0His imprisonment for\u00a0\u201cinciting subversion of state power\u201d\u00a0related to\u00a0his part as the leading author behind \u201cCharter \u201808\u201d, a manifesto calling for protection of universal human rights and democratic reform in China.<\/p>\n

In October 2010, Liu Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his\u00a0continued and non-violent struggle for human rights in China. In prison and unable to attend the award ceremony in Oslo, he\u00a0was represented by an empty chair.<\/p>\n

His wife, poet and artist Liu Xia, was placed under house arrest following the Nobel announcement in October 2010 and continues to be held without charge or legal due process. Her home is guarded by security officers and she is prevented from communicating freely with the outside world.<\/p>\n

We believe that the ongoing, extra-judicial house arrest of Liu Xia is intended as punishment for the human rights work carried out by her husband, Liu Xiaobo, and are extremely concerned for her physical and psychological well-being.<\/p>\n

We call on the Chinese authorities to release Liu Xiaobo\u00a0immediately and unconditionally and lift all restrictions placed on Liu Xia.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Clement<\/strong>, president, PEN International said:<\/p>\n

\u2018Liu Xiaobo <\/em>and Liu Xia represent the many critical voices across China currently being silenced. Their words reverberate across the globe and we will continue to fight for their freedom until China heeds our call. They may be imprisoned but we will not let them be silenced.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018In any other country, Liu Xiaobo would be considered a national treasure and honoured. In China, however, he remains in jail. His crime, if it can be called a crime, is to demand the freedoms for all Chinese that are enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights but which the Chinese state continues to deny him and many others. China wants to be considered a major international power. To meet those aspirations it must release him, other writers and political prisoners.\u2019<\/em>\u2013 Salil<\/strong> Tripathi<\/strong>, Chair of PEN International\u2019s Writers in Prison Committee.<\/p>\n

\u2018All supporters of freedom of expression \u2013 our one resource in the face of repressive regimes \u2013 must admire and speak up for Liu Xiaobo. Living in relative safety, we try to\u00a0imagine the cost of speaking out. Liu Xiaobo has put his life on the line. It is an honour to be able to support his high principle and courage.\u2019<\/em> \u2013 Judith Rodriguez<\/strong>, member of PEN\u2019s Writers Circle.<\/p>\n

\u2018Charter \u201908 which Liu Xiaobo and others presented as a democratic aspiration for China remains an inspiring and courageous vision. \u00a0Ideas cannot be imprisoned. Our support continues and grows for Liu Xiaobo and his wife Liu Xia.\u2019<\/em> \u2013 Joanne Leedom-Ackerman<\/strong>, Vice President, PEN International.<\/p>\n

Signatories <\/strong>
\nHanan Al-Shaykh<\/strong>
\nMargaret Atwood<\/strong>
\nRobert Cottrell<\/strong>
\nJennifer Clement <\/strong>
\nYann Martel<\/strong>
\nIan Rankin<\/strong>
\nJohn Ralston Saul, President Emeritus, PEN International<\/strong>
\nJudith Rodriguez<\/strong>
\nElif Shafak<\/strong>
\nSalil<\/strong> Tripathi<\/strong><\/p>\n

– See more at: http:\/\/www.pen-international.org\/newsitems\/china-seven-years-after-his-arrest-pen-writers-urge-china-to-release-nobel-peace-prize-laureate-liu-xiaobo-and-wife-liu-xia\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘Free expression is the base of hu … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6189,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,33,51],"tags":[1175,473,1341,498,352],"views":5466,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6188"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6204,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6188\/revisions\/6204"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chinesepen.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}