A Chinese court on Friday upheld an 11-year prison sentence given to a relative of jailed Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), a lawyer said, in a verdict the family claimed was littered with “lies.”
Police detained Liu Hui (劉暉) in January on suspicion of committing fraud in connection with a real-estate deal. His brother-in-law Liu Xiaobo was jailed four years earlier for “subversion” after he circulated a charter calling for democratic reforms.
Liu Hui, who manages a real estate firm in Shenzhen, was alleged to have defrauded another man, together with a colleague.
“The government is saying in public that it wants fair trials, but then this happens which is completely ridiculous,” a family member said.
The Nobel laureate’s wife, Liu Xia (劉霞), left home after years under house arrest in April to attend the opening trial session for Liu Hui, her brother.
She attended the sentencing in June, but not Friday’s appeal, as she felt unwell during the journey to court and returned home, Shang Baojun (尚寶軍), one of Liu Hui’s lawyers said.
Lawyers said previously that Liu Xia believed the charges against her brother were “political persecution.”
Foreign diplomats and journalists were barred from entering the court for the appeal hearing, media reports said.
In June, Liu Xia appealed to Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to choose “justice” over “merciless oppression,” in a rare public statement.
She warned in an open letter that rights violations jeopardized Xi’s recent calls for a national renaissance.
“Don’t let the Chinese dream for people like us become a ‘Chinese nightmare,’” she wrote. “What we should see from national authorities is justice, not merciless oppression.”
Since taking office as president earlier this year, Xi has touted the catchphrase “Chinese dream” which, though vaguely defined, is meant to encourage national rejuvenation and pride.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in