English PEN calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all those currently detained in China in violation of their right to free expression.

An Honorary Member of the Independent Chinese PEN Centre (ICPC) and joint winner of the 2011 Liu Xiaobo Courage to Write award, Chen Wei was sentenced on 23 December 2011 to nine years in prison for “inciting subversion of state power”, as BBC reports.

Nine years in prison for several essays
Chen Wei published several essays online calling for freedom of speech and reform of China’s one-party system. He was among hundreds of dissidents detained earlier this year after online calls for protests in China inspired by the uprisings in the Middle East, English PEN says.

He has always insisted he was simply expressing his opinions as allowed under the Chinese constitution. His wife told the BBC the trial had been “a performance” and that the verdict had been decided before it began. The trial in Suining was held behind closed doors and lasted only two hours.

The indictment against Chen Wei listed several essays he wrote for foreign websites on topics including pieces which criticised the political system in China and praised the growth of civil society.

‘Dictatorship will fail, democracy will prevail’
It is believed to be one of the harshest sentences imposed on those involved in the so-called Jasmine Revolution – the attempt to replicate the Arab Spring uprising in China. After the verdict was announced, Chen Wei told the court: “Dictatorship will fail, democracy will prevail.”

His wife believes the court was not fair and the verdict was decided in advance. That was the reason why her husband has decided not to appeal the verdict. “We have a daughter who is not even 10 years old. I need to slowly explain to my daughter why her father is in jail,” she told.

Human rights observers at the court for the trial said there were a large police presence and that two activists had been questioned taken away.

Chen Wei is a veteran pro-democracy campaigner, having been jailed for his part in the student protest in 1989 which were crushed in Tiananmen Square. He is also a sign signatory of Charter 08 – a manifesto for democratic reform that was co-written by Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

Ten years in jail for promoting human rights
Three days later on 26 December 2011 another dissident Chinese writer Chen Xi was sentenced to ten years in prison for ‘inciting subversion of state power’ in essays published online on overseas websites.

According to English PEN information, Chen Xi, a 57 year old Guizhou-based freelance writer and prominent human rights activist, was arrested on 29 November 2011 and sentenced four weeks later.

His trial reportedly lasted less than three hours. According to the court verdict, his conviction is based on several quotations from articles published on overseas Chinese websites. He has decided not to appeal the verdict. Chen Xi has been held in Guiyang City No.1 Detention Centre.

Chen Xi has already served a total of thirteen years in prison on “counter-revolutionary” offences for his peaceful activism, three years from 1989-1992 and ten years from 1995-2005.

He is a member of the Guizhou Human Rights Forum, which was declared an ‘illegal organisation’ by the Guizhou authorities on 5 December 2011, prior to International Human Rights Day (10 December). At least ten other members of the group have been arrested since 28 November but all have since been released without charge.

Obvious similarities in both cases
Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) say there are a few similarities: “Both Chen Wei and Chen Xi were pro-democracy activists in 1989 – Chen Wei was a student protestor in Beijing while Chen Xi organized a pro-democracy group to join the protests in Guizhou, and for these activities the two were imprisoned respectively. But the two have not ceased their activism.”

CHRD adds that the fact that both were imprisoned before – Chen Wei was jailed for six years while Chen Xi spent 13 years in prison – does not bode well for them in their current trials, as repeat political “offenders” are likely to receive harsher sentences.

They also remark that in both trials, the “evidence” was their words or articles promoting human rights and democracy as evidence for “inciting subversion.”‘

Take action!
English PEN asks to send appeals to China’s President and Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Chen Wei and Chen Xi; expressing alarm at the crackdown on dissent and Reminding the Chinese authorities of their obligations under Article 35 of the Chinese constitution and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which it is a state party.

More details with addresses are provided here.

Find out more information about jailed Chinese dissidents here and here.

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