BEIJING, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- It is a misunderstanding when some foreign media alleged Liu Xiaobo was sentenced to jail for simply "making remarks," as Liu has gone beyond the scope of free speech and was convicted of the crime of inciting subversion of state power, a noted Chinese criminal law expert has said.
"We shall know what Liu has done before discussing whether his deeds constitute a crime or not," said Prof. Gao Mingxuan in a recent report of Legal Daily, a Beijing-based national newspaper.
Liu published a series of articles including "Change the regime by changing the society" on the Internet between October 2005 and August 2007, inciting time after time the subversion of state power, according to documents from the Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court and the Beijing Municipal Higher People's Court.
Liu, along with some other people, wrote articles proposing " elimination of the privilege of one party to monopolize power" and "setting up a federal republic in China" between September and December, 2008. He organized and induced others to sign in support of his articles and sent them to overseas websites for publication.
Liu was sentenced to 11 years in prison at the end of last year by the intermediate court, with his political rights deprived for two years. His appeal at the higher court was rejected in February this year.
At the court, Liu admitted to writing and publishing the articles, but defended himself saying he was making some comments on the nature of criticism and was not instigating subversion of state power.
However, Prof. Gao said Liu's motive to subvert state power and overthrow the social system was straightforward and clear according to the literal meaning of his articles.
