Nobel laureate’s relative jailed in ‘warning to whole family’

The court in suburban Beijing issued the sentence in a brief hearing after finding Liu Hui guilty of fraud in a property dispute, said lawyer Shang Baojun.

“This is damaging to my whole family,” said Mr Liu’s sister and the wife of the imprisoned Nobel laureate, Liu Xia, who was allowed to leave the Beijing apartment where she has been confined to attend the hearing.

Crying, she criticised the authorities for being unscrupulous in persecuting the family. “Look at this situation. There’s no bottom line,” she said.

Family members and their supporters have said the prosecution of Liu Hui is meant as further punishment of the Nobel laureate’s family and is intended to intimidate other political activists.

The 11-year sentence for a business dispute is harsh even by Chinese standards and matches the 11 years Liu Xiaobo is currently serving for calling for democracy.

Fraud is usually punishable by up to 10 years in jail, although judges – who answer to the ruling Communist Party – have discretion to issue longer terms for serious cases.

The prosecution of Liu Hui is the latest measure against the family. Liu Xiaobo was arrested in 2008 and soon after he was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010 for his campaigning for peaceful democratic change, his wife was placed under house arrest.

In the two-and-a-half years since, she has rarely been allowed out in public, kept in an apartment without phone or internet connections. The arrest of her brother in February was seen as retaliation against Liu Xia after she spoke out.