Beijing court upholds 11-year sentence for dissident

AFP - A Beijing court on Thursday upheld on appeal an 11-year prison term against leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo for subversion, triggering swift US and EU condemnation.

Washington and Brussels called for the immediate release of the 54-year-old Liu, a writer and one time professor who was first detained in December 2008 after co-authoring a bold manifesto calling for political reform in China.

The United States also hit out at what it called the "persecution" of individuals for expressing their political views, saying it was inconsistent with globally recognised human rights standards.

"The sentence was confirmed," one of Liu's attorneys, Shang Baojun, told AFP after a brief hearing at the Beijing High People's Court.

The initial December conviction of Liu, who was previously jailed over the 1989 Tiananmen pro-democracy protests, sparked international condemnation and even some domestic criticism.

Last month, four retired Communist Party officials signed an open letter to the government calling for a review of Liu's case, suggesting his conviction violated some of the principles for which they had fought.

The charge of "inciting subversion of state power", which was also related to anti-government articles written by Liu that were posted online, is commonly brought against those who voice opposition to the ruling party.

The dissident's wife Liu Xia, who was in court Thursday, told AFP she was not surprised by the verdict.

"I had prepared myself," she said, adding she had been allowed to visit her husband in detention after the hearing.

"He was doing well. We didn't talk about the case. He asked me what I was doing for (Chinese) New Year, that kind of thing."

US ambassador Jon Huntsman said in a statement after the ruling that Washington was disappointed and lamented what he called the persecution of citizens expressing their political views.

"We believe that he should not have been sentenced in the first place and should be released immediately," he said.

"Persecution of individuals for the peaceful expression of political views is inconsistent with internationally-recognised norms of human rights."

Simon Sharpe, an official from the European Union delegation in China, told reporters at the courthouse that the EU was also calling for Liu's unconditional release.

The EU also urged Beijing to "end the harassment and detention of other signatories of Charter 08" -- which called for the overhaul of China's one-party communist system and the protection of human rights.

According to China Human Rights Defenders, an activist network, more than 10,000 people have signed the petition, which has been widely circulated on the Internet.

In Hong Kong, a Chinese territory which runs on a different political system, a dozen activists -- outnumbered three-to-one by police -- protested and called for Liu's release.

The group taped a letter with its demands on a railing outside the central government liaison office, the body responsible for the city's ties with Beijing, after officials refused to accept its petition.

Rights group Amnesty International said that by upholding Liu's verdict, the court had "missed an opportunity to right the wrong".

"The message is clear -- if you criticise the system outside the parameters set by the authorities or independently try to organise civil society, you will be stopped," said Roseann Rife, the group's Asia-Pacific deputy director.

On Thursday, China's foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu again warned the West against meddling in the case, saying the nation's "judicial and internal affairs brook no interference".