Well-known dissident Liu Xiaobo was arrested in China for alleged subversive activities, a state run media agency reported.
Liu, a former university lecturer and literary critic, was arrested for alleged agitation activities aimed at subversion of the government, the Xinhua agency reported Wednesday citing Beijing’s Municipal Public Security Bureau. Lui was arrested Tuesday, a police statement printed by Xinhua said. “Liu has been engaged in agitation activities, such as spreading of rumors and defaming of the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years,” the statement said. The statement also said Liu had confessed to the charge during a preliminary police investigation. Lui has had other documented run-ins with law enforcement in China in the past. He served as an adviser to student leaders during the demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1989 and, along with three other intellectuals, took part in hunger strike on the Square on June 2 of that year to show support for the flagging student protests. He was arrested two days after the Tiananmen crackdown. He was released in 1991. In May 1995, he was detained again, this time for collecting signatures for a petition calling for human rights guarantees.
