No flowers for Liu Xiaobo on his birthday

The authorities in the Liaoning (辽宁) provincial prison where Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo (刘哓波) is serving an 11-year jail sentence refused to give him the flowers that Reporters Without Borders sent him for his 55th birthday yesterday. Liu celebrated his birthday in prison again. The lack of clemency for China’s most famous prisoner of conscience is being accompanied by very harsh and illegal restrictions on his wife, Liu Xia (刘霞), and his supporters. Liu Xiaobo has spent six birthdays in prison since 1989. China’s insistence on treating him as a dangerous criminal is sullying its international reputation. It is vital that he should be freed before President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States next month. His release would be hailed in China and abroad. The Chinese government has everything to lose by continuing to criminalize the activities of Liu and his supporters and treat the award of the Nobel Peace Prize as a “conspiracy against China.” We hope that Liu will be able to celebrate his 56th anniversary with his family. Meanwhile, we call on the authorities to allow his wife, who is under house arrest in Beijing, his brothers and his lawyers to visit him. We urge Internet users to send birthday greetings and messages of encouragement to Liu. This is his address in prison: Zhongguo
Liaoning sheng
Jinzhou shi
Taihe qu nanshan li 86 hao
Jinzhou jianyu
Liu Xiaobo shou More information about Liu Xiaobo: http://en.rsf.org/liu-xiaobo.html