liberty central's civil liberties hero of the week: Liu Xia
This week we doff our cap to Liu Xia, wife of the prominent Chinese dissident and democratic campaigner Liu Xiaobo.
Until now, Liu Xia has avoided speaking out about her husband's detention by China's security police. However that changed this week when she bravely voiced her concerns as the case was taken up by the UN Human Rights Council, which is shortly expected to publish its review of China's human rights record.
"I wish that China would follow its own laws," said Liu Xia. "If you don't honour laws, what's the point of having them?"
Her husband, an intellectual and human rights activist who had been in and out of prison, was arrested again in December. This time it was his involvement in the Charter 08, a document calling for constitutional reform in China, initiated by Liu Xiaobo and his colleagues, and signed by more than 300 people, that led to his detention. Under Chinese law, Liu Xiaobo's "residential detention" entitles him to a sort of house arrest, where he can meet freely with his family and lawyer. Instead, he is being held in an undisclosed location near Beijing, and has had just one meeting with his wife on January 1.
At the time of Liu Xiaobo's arrest, fellow campaigner Ran Yunfei wrote that the state's "fierce reaction can't disguise the fear underneath", and paid tribute to those like Liu Xia and her husband who are prepared to stand up for their civil liberties.
"One will always claim and protect one's rights. No authority can stop that."