[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 201 (Thursday, December 24, 2009)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14137-S14138]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          TRIAL OF LIU XIAOBO

  Mr. DORGAN. Madam President, I want to briefly draw your attention to 
an extraordinary trial that took place in Beijing yesterday morning. 
Mr. Liu Xiaobo is a 53-year-old writer and social critic and one of 
China's most prominent advocates of democratic reform. After being 
detained without charges for over a year, he went on trial yesterday 
morning in a 3-hour proceeding closed to the public. If convicted, Mr. 
Liu faces up to 15 years in prison. His verdict is likely to come on 
Friday, Christmas Day.
  What was Mr. Liu's crime?
  He was tried on charges officially defined as ``incitement to subvert 
state power.'' Mr. Liu's calls for open elections and free speech were 
viewed as a threat to the ruling Communist Party.
  What precisely did he do that got him into trouble?
  He contributed to ``Charter 08,'' a political manifesto calling for 
human rights and the rule of law in China. The manifesto was posted on 
line last December and quickly gained thousands of signatures by 
Chinese workers, teachers, and retired party members. Its name is a 
reference to Charter 77, a Soviet-era petition by Czech dissidents like 
Vaclav Havel.
  Mr. Liu's crimes are nonexistent. Yet his fate has been 
predetermined. In short, his trial is a travesty of justice:
  Mr. Liu's 3-hour trial was closed to the public. Even his wife was 
not allowed to attend. She has been relentlessly harassed and unable to 
speak to him since March.
  Officials warned Mr. Liu's supporters to stay away from the trial and 
not write about it online. Police detained some people who came to the 
courthouse to show support.
  His verdict will be announced on Christmas Day. This is an obvious 
calculation so that the verdict's announcement will garner less 
international attention.
  According to his brother, one of the two family members allowed in 
the courtroom, Mr. Liu told the judge that ``if he was sent to jail, it 
might bring others freedom of speech.''

[[Page S14138]]

  I was struck by a report in yesterday morning's New York Times that 
an unemployed meat plant worker took an 18-hour train ride from his 
far-flung province to show solidarity outside of the courthouse in 
Beijing. The worker said he had never met Mr. Liu, but that they had 
exchanged emails.
  He also said proudly that he had signed ``Charter 08'' and pulled out 
a copy of it from his backpack and handed it to a courthouse official. 
The worker's intent was clear: ``I am not afraid. I love China. I just 
want my country to have freedom and human rights.''
  The trial of Mr. Liu is a sad milestone that has further diminished 
hopes that China's economic rise would bring about significant 
political and legal reforms. During the past year, as the 
Congressional-Executive Commission on China's reporting has shown, the 
government has tightened restrictions on the Internet, harassed the 
country's human rights lawyers, and jailed muckrakers, working with 
grieving parents, blamed shoddy school construction for the deaths of 
thousands of children during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.
  We will learn the court's verdict and its jail sentence for Mr. Liu 
on Christmas Day. I call on China's leaders to demonstrate compassion 
and genuine commitment, not just in words but in deeds, to the rule of 
law and fundamental rights by dismissing the case against Mr. Liu. In 
doing so, the Chinese Government would be recognizing the serious 
procedural flaws that have taken place in this case. It would also 
signal to the rest of the world that the Chinese Government is 
committed to developing the rule of law and upholding international 
human rights standards.

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