Liu will spend his 54th birthday in prison on Monday after he was found guilty by a judge in Beijing “subversion of state power”Q for his role in the Charter 08 petition and for online essays critical of the ruling Communist Party, his defence lawyer Shang Baojun said.
American sources said the US was deeply concerned at the decision and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the verdict cast an “ominous shadow” over China’s pledge to improve its record in the area.
Liu was not allowed to respond in court to the sentence. His wife, Liu Xia was allowed to hear the verdict in person after being barred from his trial on Wednesday.
She said: “Xiaobo and I were very calm when the verdict was read. We were mentally prepared for it that he would get a long sentence.
“Later we were allowed 10 minutes together, and he told me he would appeal, even if the chances of success are low.”
Dissident writer and Christian activist Yu Jie said China “sees Liu Xiaobo as a representative figure, and think they can scare the others into silence with such a harsh sentence”.
A US diplomatic official said: “We continue to call on the Government of China to release him immediately and to respect the rights of all Chinese citizens to peacefully express their political views in favour of universally recognised fundamental freedoms.”
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay added: “The conviction and extremely harsh sentencing of Liu Xiaobo mark a further severe restriction on the scope of freedom of expression in China,” she said.
China, emboldened by its strong economy and the woes of Western powers, appears to have little patience with pressure over its strict controls on citizens’ political activities.
Liu and his lawyers were limited at the trial to 14 minutes to defend him – the same time prosecutors spent laying out the charges, said the lawyer Shang.
The verdict said Liu “had the goal of subverting our country’s people’s democratic dictatorship and socialist system. The effects were malign, and he is a major criminal”.
China had criticised Western diplomats, who sought to attend the trial. Envoys were also excluded from the verdict hearing, as were reporters.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch also criticised the verdict.
