Lawyer for Liu Xiaobo Submits Formal Request Demanding Details of Activist’s Detention

February 11, 2009       Comments Off on Lawyer for Liu Xiaobo Submits Formal Request Demanding Details of Activist’s Detention

Lawyer for Liu Xiaobo Submits Formal Request Demanding Details of Activist’s Detention

(Chinese Human Rights Defenders, February 11, 2009) – This morning, Shang Baojun (尚宝军), a lawyer for detained activist Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波) from Mo Shaoping (莫少平) law firm, submitted a formal request at the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau (PSB) demanding that the Beijing PSB notify Liu’s family of the crime for which Liu is being detained for investigation, the government agency responsible for his case, and the duration of his residential surveillance in accordance with relevant Chinese laws.

Liu Xiaobo (刘晓波), a signatory of Charter 08 and prominent Beijing-based writer and intellectual, has been held in custody since December 8, 2008. Liu is currently being subjected to “residential surveillance” (jianshi juzhu), a form of pre-trial detention, at an undisclosed location in Beijing. Liu has been barred from contacting the outside world except for one meeting with his wife, Liu Xia (刘霞), on January 1 in Xiaotangshan, Changping District, Beijing.

Liu Xia has repeatedly petitioned the Beijing Municipal PSB, demanding details of Liu’s detention and requesting meetings with him. However, authorities have not responded to either of these requests. It has now been over two months since Liu was taken into police custody, and his family still has not received a formal written detention order. Liu’s family and friends believe that he is being held by the National Security Unit of the Beijing Municipal PSB at a government-run hostel near Xiaotangshan in the suburb of Beijing.

Media contacts for this press release:

Renee Xia, International Director (English and Mandarin): +13015479286

Wang Songlian, Research Coordinator and English Editor (English, Mandarin and Cantonese): +85281911660

For more information, please see:

Liu Xiaobo under Residential Surveillance at Undisclosed Location (January 2, 2009), https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class9/Class98/200901/20090102142014_12798.html

Police Summon Beijing Intellectual Zhang Zuhua, China Continues Crackdown on Charter 08 (December 29, 2008), https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class9/Class98/200812/20081229092309_12717.html

Crackdown on Charter 08 Widens as More Activists are Interrogated and Intimidated (December 16, 2008), https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class9/Class98/200812/20081216212554_12417.html

CHRD, “Chinese Government Responds with a Crackdown on Activists for Commemorating 60th Anniversary of UDHR”, December 9, 2008, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200812/20081210085443_12282.html

CHRD, “English translation of Charter 08 Now Available”, December 10, 2008, https://www.nchrd.org/Article/Class9/Class10/200812/20081210142700_12297.html

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