The Beijing Intermediate Court convicted writer Liu of subversion and sentenced him to four years in prison, according to a report by the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy.
Liu was imprisoned for attempting to publish a book on Chinese dissidents, including Xu Wenli, one of China’s most prominent political prisoners and a leading figure in the China Democracy Party. In December 1998, Xu was himself convicted of subversion and sentenced to 13 years in prison. On December 24, 2002, Xu was released on medical parole and deported to the United States.
According to the terms of his original sentence, Liu should have been released in March 2002, but CPJ was unable to obtain information on his legal status.