11 Feb 2010

Appeal by China dissident Liu Xiaobo rejected

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has had his appeal against an 11-year prison sentence rejected by a court in Beijing, his lawyer has said.

liu_Xiaobo

Mr Liu has been in jail since 2008, after being arrested for writing a petition known as Charter 08. It called for greater freedoms and democratic reforms in China, including an end to one-party rule. The former university professor is a veteran of the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests.

More than 300 international writers, including Salman Rushdie, Umberto Eco and Margaret Atwood, have called for his release.

Mr Liu is the only person to have been arrested for organising the Charter 08 appeal, but others who signed it have reportedly been harassed.

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