Here’s the release in full..
China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group Call for the Release of Liu Xiaobo and other dissidents
On October 8, the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year was Dr. Liu Xiaobo, a renowned Beijing writer and a co-drafter of ?Charter 08?. China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group congratulates Liu Xiaobo for being the first Chinese awarded such prestigious honour. While we are sharing the honour, we feel ashamed of the Chinese government for sentencing Liu Xiaobo to 11-year imprisonment for so-called “inciting subversion of state power”. We strongly urge the Chinese government to immediately release Liu Xiaobo, all prisoners of conscience and dissidents under house arrest.
Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to 11-year imprisonment and deprived of political rights for two years on 25 December 2009 simply because he co-drafted and co-signed the Charter 08, and wrote six articles criticizing the government. The ?Charter 08? was co-signed by over 10,000 people since it was released. Many signatories were human rights lawyers and legal academics.
Not only were those who initiated and co-drafted the ?Charter 08? targeted by the Chinese government, those who celebrated for Liu Xiaobo?s winning of the Nobel Peace Prize were also harassed. On the day of the award announcement, Beijing legal academic and a famous human rights defender Xu Zhiyong and about 20 rights defenders, gathered for celebrations. They held up banners with slogans saying ?Congratulations to Liu Xiaobo? and ?Long Live the Freedom?. They were however accused of ?obstructing public order? and were taken to the public security bureau. Xu was released later on, but other three persons remain detained. China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group strongly condemns the public security for violating the PRC Constitution which gives citizens the right to freedom of expression and assembly.
A few days before the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize, Chinese vice foreign minister Fu Ying requested the Nobel Committee not to give the award to Liu Xiaobo. Then, in response to Liu Xiaobo being given the award, Ma Zhaoxu, spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said it may harm China-Norway relations. It is obvious that the Chinese government attempted to interfere with the Nobel Prize Committee’s decision. We believe it is an insult to the Nobel Peace Prize and we strongly condemn it.
On the other hand, Liu Xiaobo’s wife Liu Xia had lost contacts with outside after the announcement of the award. Until 9pm on 10 October, she wrote on her Twitter saying she had returned to Beijing. She said she had been under house arrest after the Nobel Committee announced to give the award to Liu Xiaobo on 8 October. She couldn’t use her mobile phone to make outside contacts. She confirmed that she met with Liu Xiaobo and she learned that the prison on 9 October told Liu Xiaobo that he was given the Nobel Peace Prize.
In its press release, the Norwegian Nobel Committee said that it decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2010 to Liu Xiaob ?for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights rights in China. We believe that there is a very significant symbolic meaning for Liu Xiaobo being given the Nobel Peace Prize. He receives the award by representing numerous individuals in China who have been striving for human rights and justice in non-violent manners. We strongly believe that it will be a driving force for the democratic development in China for Liu Xiaobo being given the Nobel Peace Prize. It will be the biggest encouragement to mainland Chinese human rights defenders who have been striving for improvements under severe oppression.
At last, we want to reiterate that the Chinese government should immediately release Liu Xiaobo and other dissidents being imprisoned or under house arrest. The government should also stop harassing human rights lawyers and human rights defenders. It should immediately release Gao Zhisheng and Guo Feixiong and stop putting Zheng Enchong and Chen Guangcheng and their families under house arrest.
China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
October 11, 2010
