The Chinese authorities must immediately disclose the whereabouts of Liu Xia, the wife of 2010 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Liu Xiaobo, Amnesty International said today.
Amid reports that she has been detained by police and forced to leave Beijing to visit her husband in Jinzhou in Liao Ning province, where he is imprisoned by the authorities, Catherine Baber Deputy Amnesty International deputy director of Asia Pacific said:
“The Chinese authorities may want to play down the international focus Liu Xiaobo’s Nobel Peace Prize has placed on the thousands of prisoners of conscience held in China, but the harassment of Liu Xia is certainly not the way to achieve this.
“It is outrageous that Liu Xia be harassed just because her husband has received international recognition for his work for human rights. Her whereabouts must be disclosed immediately with confirmation that she remains a free citizen.
“The Chinese authorities would have far greater impact if they used this as an opportunity to release all those currently held in China for peacefully expressing their views and stopped harassing innocent citizens.”