Last week, the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, a panel comprised of independent legal experts, ruled that 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, currently serving an 11-year sentence in a Chinese jail, and his wife, Liu Xia, under de facto house arrest, are being held in violation of international law, and calls on the government of China to release them immediately.
seven sentences Liu Xiaobo penned“Restrictions of the right to political free speech are strongly circumscribed. The Government has not shown in this case a justification for the interference with Mr. Liu Xiaobo’s political free speech.”
In short, the words Liu Xiaobo was convicted for, and other writings like it, are fully protected under international law. PEN is of course thrilled by the working group’s decision and this clarion call to the government of China to end its use of subversion laws to jail writers simply for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression, and we re-issue our call for his and Liu Xia’s immediate and unconditional release.