Liu Xiaobo and wife Liu Xia, August 2001 ©Private

Amnesty International will participate in the candle vigil organized by the Charter 08 Campaign in the evening of January 12, 2010 -- before a motion is proposed by legislator Lee Wah-ming to the Legislative Council -- calling for the release of Dr. Liu Xiaobo.

Liu, prominent scholar and activist, was sentenced by the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court to 11 years' imprisonment and deprived of political rights for two years on Christmas Day (December 25, 2009). The accused offence was only that Liu took part in drafting and signing the Charter 08 and writing six commentaries.

Liu Xiaobo's imprisonment shows the Chinese government will not tolerate Chinese citizens participating in discussions about their own form of government.

Amnesty International is deeply concern that the detention and imprisonment of peaceful human rights activists runs counter to promises made by Chinese officials on their first ever National Human Rights Action Plan 2009-2010. The organization continues its call for the release of Liu Xiaobo, and dozen of other detained for standing up for human rights, unconditionally and uphold freedom of expression and the rule of law.

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Legislative councillor Lee Wah-ming is going to propose a motion "Releasing Liu Xiaobo" during the Legislative Council meeting on January 13, 2010. The wording of the motion is:

"That this Council seriously regrets that the Central Government has imposed a heavy sentence on Liu Xiaobo for inciting to subvert state power, and demands that the Central Government should immediately release Liu Xiaobo and other dissidents; this Council appeals to the Central Government to recognize that Charter 08 advocated by Liu Xiaobo and others is a manifestation of the common values recognized by civilized societies and to positively affirm the concepts and principles of Charter 08, and the SAR Government should also expeditiously implement dual universal suffrage in Hong Kong according to those concepts and principles."

RUNDOWN

• Speeches by representatives of participating organisations
• Reciting the poems written by Liu Xiaobo and poems about Liu Xiaobo
• Action art performance
• Free speeches by participants
• Singing human rights songs

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

Amnesty International
China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group
HKFS Social Movement Resource Centre (smrc autonomous8a)
Hong Kong Alliance In Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China
Hong Kong Chinese PEN Centre
Hong Kong Christian Institute
Hong Kong Journalists Association
Hong Kong University Students' Union
Independent Chinese PEN Centre
Inmediahk.net
International Journalists Federation
Justice and Peace Commission of the Hong Kong Catholic Diocese
Laogai Research Foundation

(If you would like to be included in one of the participanting organizations, please contact Mr. Patrick Poon at poonkarwai@live.hk)

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