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Pelosi Statement on the Arrest of Chinese Human Rights Leader Liu Xiaobo
June 24, 2009Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today in response to reports from China's official Xinhua news agency that human rights leader Liu Xiaobo has been formally arrested on the criminal charge of "inciting subversion of state power." Liu Xiaobo was one of the original signers of Charter 08, an online petition calling for new policies to improve human rights and democracy in China. It now has more than 8,000 signatories, a number of whom have been harassed and intimidated by Chinese authorities. Speaker Pelosi had previously written a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao calling for the release of Liu Xiaobo and certain individuals detained or imprisoned solely for exercising internationally-recognized rights guaranteed to them under Chinese law. Full release.