by Liu Xiaobo
The Charges
The Indictment from Branch No. 1 of the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing charges that Defendant Liu Xiaobo, because of his dissatisfaction with the People’s Democratic Dictatorship and the socialist system in our country, began in 2005 to use the Internet to post subversive articles such as “The Authoritarian Patriotism of the Communist Party of China,” “Who Says the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Democracy by Party Rule’?” “To Change a Regime by Changing a Society,” “The Many Faces of Communist Party Dictatorship,” “How a Rising Dictatorship Hurts Democracy in the World,” and “A Deeper Look into Why Child Slavery in China’s ‘Black Kilns’ Could Happen” on foreign websites such “Observe China” and the Chinese service of the BBC and that the articles contain rumor and slander including “the top priority of the Chinese Communist dictators, from the time they took power, has been their grip on power, and human lives have been their lowest,” “the official love-of-country that the Chinese Communist dictators promote is an absurdity by which ‘Party stands for country’ and the actual demands on people are that they love a dictatorial regime, love a dictatorial political party, and love dictators; it usurps the word ‘patriotism’ to bring suffering and disaster to the nation and its people,” “all these measures of the Communist Party of China are stopgaps that dictators use to shore up power to the last, but there is no way they can hold together an edifice that already shows such a vast network of cracks” and incitement including “change a regime by changing a society” and “hope for a free China is placed better with ‘new forces’ in society than with any ‘new policies’ from the rulers,” and that between September and December, 2008, Defendant Liu Xiaobo colluded with others to draft and concoct Charter 08, which, aiming to incite subversion of state power, put forward proposals such as “abolish the special privilege of one party to monopolize power” and “aim ultimately at a federation of democratic communities of China” and that, after collecting more than 300 signatures on it, Liu Xiaobo used email to send Charter 08 and the signatures for public posting on the foreign websites of Democratic China, Independent Chinese PEN, and other foreign websites.
Following commission of these crimes, Defendant Liu Xiaobo was found, seized, and brought to account.
Branch No. 1 of the People’s Procuratorate of Beijing has delivered to this court evidence of the crimes of Defendant Liu Xiaobo including witness testimony, on-scene observation reports, records of investigations, electronic data, and forensic reports. In the opinion of the Procuratorate, Defendant Liu Xiaobo’s behavior violates Section 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China and constitutes the crime of inciting subversion of state power, and the criminal behavior is severe. It submitted the evidence to this court for judgment according to law.
Reply
At his trial Defendant Liu Xiaobo argued that he is innocent and was only exercising the right of freedom of speech that the constitution grants to citizens; that his critical opinions did no actual harm to any person, and that he did not incite subversion of state power.
At the trial, defense lawyers for Defendant Liu Xiaobo argued that Charter 08 and the six articles Liu Xiaobo wrote contain no rumor, libel, or slander. They held that the articles Liu Xiaobo wrote were covered by a citizen’s rights to free speech and to expression of personal opinion and did not constitute a crime of inciting subversion of state power.
Findings
At trial, it was determined that Defendant Liu Xiaobo, because of his dissatisfaction with the People’s Democratic Dictatorship and the socialist system in our country, between October 2005 and August 2007, at his current address no. 502, Unit One, Building 10, Bank of China apartments, Seven Sages Village, Haidian District, Beijing City, by means of writing and posting articles on Internet sites such “Observe China” and the “BBC Chinese web,” on many occasions incited others to subvert the state power and the socialist system of our country. In his published articles “The Authoritarian Patriotism of the Communist Party of China,” “Who Says the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Democracy by Party Rule’?” “To Change a Regime by Changing a Society,” “The Many Faces of Communist Party Dictatorship,” “How a Rising Dictatorship Hurts Democracy in the World,” and “A Deeper Look into Why Child Slavery in China’s ‘Black Kilns’ Could Happen,” Liu Xiaobo commits slander: “The top priority of the Chinese Communist dictators, from the time they took power, has been their grip on power, and human lives have been their lowest”; “The official love-of-country that the Chinese Communist dictators promote is an absurdity by which ‘Party stands for country’ and the actual demands on people are that they love a dictatorial regime, love a dictatorial political party, and love dictators; it usurps the word ‘patriotism’ to bring suffering and disaster to the nation and its people”; “all these measures of the CCP are stopgaps that dictators use to shore up power to the last, but there is no way they can hold together an edifice that already shows such a vast network of cracks” and he incites: “Change a regime by changing a society” and “Hope for a free China is placed better with ‘new forces’ in society than with any ‘new policies’ from the rulers.”
Furthermore between September and December, 2008, Defendant Liu Xiaobo colluded with others to write the article Charter 08 that promoted many items of incitement such as “abolish the special privilege of one party to monopolize power” and “aim ultimately at a federation of democratic communities of China.” After Liu Xiaobo and his group had collected more than 300 signatures, they used email to send Charter 08 and the signatures to it for public posting on the foreign websites of Democratic China, Independent Chinese PEN, and other foreign websites. The articles by Liu Xiaobo noted above were linked to many websites, forwarded to many others, and were accessed by many people.
Following commission of these crimes, Defendant Liu Xiaobo was found, seized, and brought to justice.
Evidence
This court has determined that the foregoing facts have been substantiated at trial by the following evidence that was presented to the court:
1. The testimony of witness Liu Xia shows: She is the wife of Liu Xiaobo and lived together with him at no. 502, Unit One, Building 10, Bank of China apartments, Seven Sages Village, Haidian District, Beijing City. They had a total of three computers in their home, of which one was a desktop model and two were notepad computers. She understands nothing of computers and never used the computers in their home. Normally it was always Liu Xiaobo who used the computers. Liu Xiaobo used the computers to write articles and go online. Only she and Liu Xiaobo lived in their home, no one else. Guests did not often come to their home. Most of Liu Xiaobo’s meetings with others were outside the home. She is not clear about how their computers connect with the Internet. Liu Xiaobo arranged to have the connection done in 2001. The source of livelihood for her and Liu Xiaobo normally was the manuscript fees for the items he wrote. Liu Xiaobo opened a bank account in her name, and manuscript fees arrived in the account at irregular intervals. She went to the bank every month at irregular intervals to withdraw money.
2. A “Certificate of Account Opening” and a “Record of Bank Remittances” supplied by the Beijing Branch and Muxidi Sub-branch of the Bank of China, Limited, show: The bank account of Liu Xia, wife of Liu Xiaobo, shows remittances and withdrawals of foreign funds (in foreign currency).
3. A “Reply about Assistance in Executing an Investigation of Relevant Data” supplied by the Beijing branch of the China United Internet Communications Company, Limited, shows: There are records of Internet use for the ADSL account that Liu Xiaobo used.
4. The testimony of witness Zhang Zuhua shows: At the end of 2008 he and Liu Xiaobo together finished drafting Charter 08. He also collected signatures, after which Liu Xiaobo published Charter 08 on foreign websites.
5. The testimony of witness He Yongqin shows: In early December 2008, he received Charter 08 from Liu Xiaobo by email. Liu Xiaobo asked him to sign it after he read it.
After he read it he replied to Liu Xiaobo by email, saying he agreed to sign.
6. The testimony of witness Zhao Shiying shows: In October 2008 Liu Xiaobo sent him Charter 08 over the Internet, solicited his opinions on revising it, and asked him to look for others to sign it. At one gathering he took out Charter 08 and showed it to more than ten of the gathered people, and four agreed to sign. Liu Xiaobo also asked him, over the Internet, to go to Guangzhou to solicit signatures, and he collected five signatures in Guangzhou.
7. The testimony of witness Yao Bo shows: On one occasion in October 2008, Liu Xiaobo met him and told him about Charter 08. He agreed to add his signature.
8. The testimony of witness Zhou Duo shows: One day in November 2008, Liu Xiaobo came to his home to show him the manuscript of Charter 08 and asked him to help with revisions. After Liu Xiaobo left, he read the manuscript but made no revisions. They did not discuss the matter of signing. But later, when he saw Charter 08 on the Internet, his name was there.
9. The testimony of witness Fan Chunsan shows: At the end of November 2008, while he, Liu Xiaobo, and some others were eating together, Liu Xiaobo took out Charter 08 and showed it to him. Liu Xiaobo asked if he would sign, and he agreed to sign. He knew that Liu Xiaobo published articles on foreign websites such as Boxun and Independent Chinese PEN, and had read them online. The content of Liu Xiaobo’s articles was always contemporary political commentary.
10. The testimonies of witnesses Xu Junliang, Zhi Xiaomin, and Teng Biao show: In November and December, 2008, Charter 08 appeared in their email inboxes. They did not know who had sent it. Each signed and returned Charter 08 to the mailbox from which it had come.
11. The testimony of witness Wang Zhongxia shows: He saw Charter 08 on the Internet. He agreed with its content and signed his name. He later printed some Charter 08 T-shirts. He wanted to wear one himself and give them to others to spread the word of Charter 08.
12. A “Search Record” supplied by Public Security organs and police photographs shows: On December 8, 2008, Public Security organs, as witnessed by eyewitnesses, carried out a search of Liu Xiaobo’s residence at no. 502, Unit One, Building 10, Bank of China apartments, Seven Sages Village, Haidian District, Beijing City, where they discovered and confiscated two notepad computers, one desktop computer, and one printer, which were the implements used by Liu Xiaobo to write Charter 08 (“Tentative Text for Soliciting Opinions”) and to send it to the Internet.
13. A “Forensic Opinion” supplied by the Center for Electronic Data Forensics of the Internet Trade Association of Beijing City shows: On December 13, 2008, the Center carried out a forensic evaluation of the electronic data recovered from the three computers that were confiscated from Liu Xiaobo, and the evaluation found and recovered electronic versions of “The Authoritarian Patriotism of the Communist Party of China,” “Who Says the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Democracy by Party Rule’?” “To Change a Regime by Changing a Society,” “The Many Faces of Communist Party Dictatorship,” “How a Rising Dictatorship Hurts Democracy in the World,” “A Deeper Look into Why Child Slavery in China’s ‘Black Kilns’ Could Happen,” and Charter 08. In the data records of the Skype chat software in the computers for November 2008 until December 8, 2008, the Center found and recovered many records of sending Charter 08 and its “tentative text for soliciting opinions.”
14. On-site investigation, records of examination, and work descriptions supplied by Public Security organs show:
(1) Between December 19, 2008, and December 23, 2008, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article that bore the name “Liu Xiaobo” and was entitled “Liu Xiaobo: The Authoritarian Patriotism of the Communist Party of China.” The article had appeared on a website at the domain http://epochtimes.com (The Epoch Times), whose server is outside the country. The posting date of the article was October 5, 2005. As of December 23, 2008, there were links to five websites that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet.
(2) Between December 19, 2008, and August 3, 2009, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article that bore the name “Liu Xiaobo” and was entitled “Liu Xiaobo: Who Says the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Democracy by Party Rule’?” The article had appeared on websites at the domain http://epochtimes.com (The Epoch Times) and the domain http://www.observechina.net (Observe China), whose servers are outside the country. The posting dates of the article were January 5, 2006, and January 6, 2006. As of December 23, 2008, there were links to five websites that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet. The total number of hits was 402.
(3) Between December 20, 2008, and August 3, 2009, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article that bore the name “Liu Xiaobo” and was entitled “Liu Xiaobo: To Change a Regime by Changing a Society.” The article had appeared on websites at the domain http://epochtimes.com (The Epoch Times) and the domain http://www.observechina.net (Observe China), whose servers are outside the country. The posting dates of the article were February 26, 2006, and February 27, 2006. As of December 23, 2008, there were links to five websites that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet. The total number of hits was 748.
(4) Between December 20, 2008, and August 3, 2009, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article that bore the name “Liu Xiaobo” and was entitled “Liu Xiaobo: The Many Faces of Communist Party Dictatorship.” The article had appeared on websites at the domain http://www.secretchina.com (Look at China) and the domain http://www.observechina.net (Observe China), whose servers are outside the country. The posting date of the article was March 13, 2006. As of December 23, 2008, there were links to six websites that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet. The total number of hits was 512.
(5) On December 20, 2008, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article that bore the name “Liu Xiaobo” and was entitled “Liu Xiaobo: How a Rising Dictatorship Hurts Democracy in the World.” The article had appeared on a website at the domain http://www.secretchina.com (Look at China), whose server is outside the country. The posting date of the article was May 7, 2006. As of December 23, 2008, there were links to seven websites that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet. The total number of hits was 57.
(6) Between December 20, 2008, and August 3, 2009, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article that bore the name “Liu Xiaobo” and was entitled “Liu Xiaobo: A Deeper Look into Why Child Slavery in China’s ‘Black Kilns’ Could Happen.” The article had appeared on websites at the domain http://www.minzhuzhongguo.org (Democratic China) and the domain http://www.renyurenquan.org (Humanity and Human Rights), whose servers are outside the country. The posting date of the article was August 1, 2007. As of December 23, 2008, there were links to eight websites that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet. The total number of hits was 488.
(7) On December 11, 2008, Division One of the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City discovered on the Internet and downloaded an article entitled Charter 08. The article had appeared on a website at the domain http://www.chinesepen.org (Independent Chinese PEN), whose server is outside the country. The posting date of the article was December 9, 2008. Its author was listed as a group of citizens. On the same day, on websites at the domain http://www.boxun.com (Bo
xun) and the domain http://www.minzhuzhongguo.org (Democratic China), whose servers are outside the country, an article entitled “People from All Parts of Society Come Together to Announce Charter 08” was discovered and downloaded. The posting dates of the articles were December 8, 2008, and December 9, 2008. For these articles, as of December 12, 2008, there were links to thirty-three websites, nineteen of which were websites outside the country, that had either posted it or reposted it on the Internet. The total number of hits was 5,154, and there were 158 replies. On December 9, 2009, it was discovered on the front page of a website at the domain http://www.2008xianzhang.info that, as of December 9, 2009, a total of 10,390 people had signed Charter 08.
(8) On August 14, 2009, the Department of Supervision of the Public Information Network of the Public Security Bureau of Beijing City conducted an examination of the email mailbox that Liu Xiaobo used and discovered that the mailbox that Liu Xiaobo used was based outside the country. After using passwords to login, the Department verified that the earliest items in the sent box were dated November 25, 2008, and that thirty of the sent items were related to the sending out of Charter 08.
15. Liu Xiaobo’s acknowledgment of articles by his signature shows: Liu Xiaobo has carried out identification of the articles “Liu Xiaobo: The Authoritarian Patriotism of the Communist Party of China,” “Liu Xiaobo: Who Says the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Democracy by Party Rule’?” “Liu Xiaobo: To Change a Regime by Changing a Society,” “Liu Xiaobo: The Many Faces of Communist Party Dictatorship,” “Liu Xiaobo: How a Rising Dictatorship Hurts Democracy in the World,” and “Liu Xiaobo: A Deeper Look into Why Child Slavery in China’s ‘Black Kilns’ Could Happen” that departments of supervision of Public Security organs have downloaded and preserved and of the electronic versions of “The Authoritarian Patriotism of the Communist Party of China,” “Who Says the Chinese People Deserve Only ‘Democracy by Party Rule’?” “To Change a Regime by Changing a Society,” “The Many Faces of Communist Party Dictatorship,” “How a Rising Dictatorship Hurts Democracy in the World,” and “A Deeper Look into Why Child Slavery in China’s ‘Black Kilns’ Could Happen,” that have been recovered from his computers, and Liu Xiaobo has acknowledged that the identified articles are articles that he wrote and posted on the Internet. The articles that Liu Xiaobo has identified and acknowledged by signature contain language of incitement as determined by the aforementioned facts.