Wall Street Journal: A Chinese court sentenced Liu Xiaobo, China's most prominent dissident, to 11 years in prison for criticizing the government, an unusually long sentence that rights activists say suggests other activists will also face harsh punishment. The Beijing No. 1 Intermediate People's Court announced Friday its ruling that Mr. Liu was guilty of "inciting subversion of state power." Pro-democracy activists hold pictures of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was arrested after co-authoring a bold manifesto urging civil rights and political reform, outside the U.S. Consulate General in Hong Kong. The 53-year-old scholar had spent more than a year in detention before his trial Wednesday, which lasted less than three hours.
Full story