Two Years Later: The Ongoing Detentions of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo and His Wife Liu Xia

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Two years ago, the Nobel Committee awarded the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize to prominent intellectual and democracy advocate Liu Xiaobo “for his long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.” Today, Liu Xiaobo remains in a Chinese prison serving the fourth year of an 11-year sentence, while authorities hold his wife under a de facto form of house arrest.

The hearing discussed Liu’s views on Chinese political reform and his co-authorship of Charter 08, a grassroots political reform treatise signed by thousands of Chinese citizens.  The hearing also discussed the essays that formed the basis of the government's “inciting subversion” charges against Liu.  Witnesses discussed Liu’s current legal status and ongoing international advocacy efforts on Liu’s behalf.  In addition, witnesses discussed conditions for Liu’s wife, Liu Xia, whose illegal home confinement has been referred to as the “most severe retaliation by a government given to a Nobel winner's family.”

This hearing was webcast.