fter waiting since last August for a restart to his stalled trial, Chinese activist, and one of Time Magazine’s Ten Heroes of 2009, Tan Zuoren was sentenced to five years in prison. Tan was compiling a report detailing the destruction that resulted from the Sichuan earthquake when he was arrested on the broad charge of “subversion” a tactic used by the Chinese government to put dissidents into prison for long periods of time. After today’s pronouncement, Tan Zuoren’s lawyer, Pu Zhiqiang announced that the sentence Tan received was the maximum possible and they are planning to appeal the decision. Fellow Sichuan earthquake activist and Twitter enthusiast Ai Weiwei said of the Tan Zuoren trial, “I think this is a very important case for China, more important than that of Liu Xiaobo. It shows the Chinese legal system has taken a big step backwards. Tan’s ‘crime’ was entirely one of speech, of conscience.”In further dissident news, Liu Xiaobo’s lawyer reports that the Beijing Courts are going to start his client’s second trial at 9am this Thursday, February 11 and his wife will be allowed to visit him. While his lawyer remains hopeful that international pressure will have an effect on this second trial, Liu remains uncertain of what this second trial will bring. Prominent dissident, democracy activist, and coauthor of Charter 08, Liu Xiaobo is now appealing his conviction and eleven year sentence on charges of “inciting subversion of state power,” according to his lawyer, Shang Baojun. Liu was sentenced to eleven years imprisonment on December 25, 2009, following a short trial held behind closed doors on December 23. The verdict has been widely condemned by the international community, as well as dissidents within China. Liu was first detained on December 8, 2008, two days before the release of Charter 08, a manifesto coauthored by Liu and other supporters of political reform in China that advocated respect for human rights and the peaceful transition to a democratic system of governance in China. Despite Liu’s imprisonment, this document has collected more than 10,000 signatures to date. Liu’s conviction was based on purely political grounds, as can be seen in the verdict. Beyond his involvement in Charter 08, Liu was also convicted based on pro-democracy articles he wrote for publication online. We really hope that Chinese govern will reflect on this issue and realize that Liu is right! They have to admite sometimes that democracy dasn’t mean only money, tax free, rich people, economyand so on. Means also freedom of thinking and speaking, freedom to travel, tollerance, respect and human rights! We hope one day Liu will be free to teach all chinese people all this thinks. We also hope that all democratic countries and Nobel Academy will pay attention on this man and use their influence on chinese govern. FREE LIU XIAOBO!
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