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Former Czech President Protests Liu Xiaobo Sentencing
January 13, 2010
By: Benjamin Russell | Printer Friendly

Vaclav Havel, former president of the Czech Republic, has joined the chorus of support for jailed Chinese dissident, Liu Xiaobo.  According to the Christian Science Monitor, Havel posted a letter of protest at the Chinese embassy in Prague calling on the Chinese government to grant a fair trial to Xiaobo and cease its persecution of what he calls “fighters for freedom.”

Xiaobo, who was sentenced in December to 11 years in prison, was detained following the publication of Charter 08, a manifesto in support of democratic reform in China, which he co-authored.  His trial, viewed by Havel and others as opaque and unfair, was closed to European diplomats who tried to attend.

Charter 08 draws on the legacy of Charter 77, a similar call for democratic reform authored principally by Havel and aimed at political repression in the former Soviet East bloc.  Havel’s works on life in a post-totalitarian state are banned in China, though they are readily accessible on the internet.

Sources:

Christian Science Monitor - Liu Xiaobo: Vaclav Havel confronts Chinese on sentencing of dissident
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-Pacific/2010/0107/Liu-Xiaobo-Vaclav-Havel-confronts-Chinese-on-sentencing-of-dissident