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The UN human rights commissioner on Friday strongly condemned the 11-year prison term awarded to a prominent Chinese dissident.
"The conviction and extremely harsh sentencing of Liu Xiabo mark a further severe restriction on the scope of freedom of expression in China," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said. Pillay termed the imprisonment as the latest example of a crackdown on human rights in China.
Liu, 53, was convicted of "inciting subversion of state power," a verdict that was met with a firestorm of international protest.
According to Chinese intellectuals, the crackdown came as a warning by the government to intimidate all critics of the Communist regime while the US said it was "deeply concerned” demanding Liu's release.
Human rights groups condemned Liu's closed-door trial at Beijing First Intermediate People's Court which lasted less three hours on Wednesday and said it is politically motivated and aimed at placing a leading critic of the Chinese government behind bars.
Liu co-organized Charter '08 for democratic reform in China and he was detained in December 2008 before its release.
The charter has been accorded by 303 leading dissidents, activists and writers with their ideals for transforming China into a liberal democracy. They lamented a lack of "freedom, equality and human rights" under the ruling Communist Party.
