HONG KONG—Authorities in the Chinese capital have formally indicted aleading dissident for subversion, one year after his arrest forhelping to draft a document calling for broad reforms to China'spolitical system.
A lawyer acting for Liu Xiaobo, who is generally credited as the chiefarchitect of the controversial Charter 08 document released online ayear ago, said the procuratorate had followed police recommendationsand formally charged Liu with subversion.
"The wording of the announcement is basically the same as that of thepolice report," Liu's lawyer Shang Baojun said.
The decision will pave the way for the beginning of Liu's trial withinthe next 10 days, he added.
Charter 08 called for freedom of expression and association, freeelections, and removal of the ruling Communist Party from control ofthe armed forces.
According to the activist network Chinese Rights Defenders, it hasbeen signed by more than 10,000 people, including leadingintellectuals, writers, and dissidents.
Liu, a former literature professor, has been an outspoken critic ofthe government since he joined a hunger strike supporting studentprotesters in 1989, just days before the army crushed thepro-democracy movement centered on Tiananmen Square.
He was later jailed for 20 months and then spent three years in alabor camp during the 1990s.
No consultation
Fellow Charter 08 signatory Mo Shaoping, who is himself a defenselawyer for many of China's prisoners of conscience, said the decisionhad been taken by China's state prosecutor, the Beijing branch of thePeople's Procuratorate, without consultation with Shang.
"The investigating agencies are supposed to seek the opinion of thedefense attorney during the course of the investigations, but theydidn't do this," he said.
"This is in contravention of the relevant rules and legislation," Mo said.
Mo said the case against Liu was mostly built around six articles hepublished since 2005, as well as his participation in the drafting andpromotion of Charter 08.
The articles appeared on foreign news Web sites including ChinaObserver and the BBC, and including titles such as "China's Dictatorial Patriotism," "The Many Facets of Chinese Communist Party Dictatorship," and "The Negative Effects on World Democracy of the Rise of Dictatorship."
Mo said the indictment document described Liu's crimes as "verygreat," accusing him of "using rumors and slander to overthrow thesocialist system."
Heavy sentence possible
Crimes that are "very great" carry a possible jail term of up to 15years, according to China's criminal code, he added.
"I am fairly sure that Liu Xiaobo will get a heavy sentence," Liu'swife Liu Xia said.
"I had some warning when the case was moved to theprocuratorate."
"I just want to tell him to take good care of himself, and that I willbe with him through all of this."
China's growing band of defense lawyers, themselves often the targetsof official harassment and detention, say China's subversion laws aremisused by the ruling Communist Party to quash critical voices who areon the verge of finding a wider audience.
Civil rights lawyer Li Heping said there is a fundamental problemwith the crime of "incitement to subversion."
"It is a fundamental right of the citizen to express their opinions inwords," Li said.
"This should not be treated as any sort of criminalactivity, still less that of subverting state power."
"Liu himself is innocent. The problem lies with the charge against him."
No access to media
Liu was formally arrested June 23 for "engaging in agitationactivities, such as the spreading of rumors and defaming of thegovernment, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing thesocialist system," according to official media reports at the time.
Analysts say that if Liu is jailed for subversion, he will beeffectively cut off from foreign journalists and from gaining furtherpublicity for his views.
Liu, 54, was initially detained at his Beijing home Dec. 8 last year,two days ahead of the official release of the Charter on World HumanRights Day.
His case has drawn concern from U.S. officials and widespread callsfrom authors' groups and human rights organizations for his release.
Activists marked the first anniversary of the signing of Charter 08last week with calls for Liu's release.
Original reporting in Cantonese by Hai Nan and in Mandarin by DingXiao.Cantonese service director: Shiny Li. Mandarin service director:Jennifer Chou.Translated and written for the Web in English byLuisetta Mudie. Edited by Sarah Jackson-Han.