Beijing: A Chinese court has upheld the 11-year prison sentence handed down to the brother-in-law of jailed Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
Relatives have denounced Liu Hui`s conviction for fraud in a real estate dispute as political payback for Liu Xiaobo`s pro-democracy advocacy. Liu Xiaobo was imprisoned for subversion in 2009.
However, lawyer Shang Baojun said the court in suburban Beijing`s Huairou district turned down Liu Hui`s appeal today.
Liu Hui`s sister, Liu Xia, has been under house arrest since her husband was awarded the Nobel prize in 2010. Shang said that Liu Xia, who has stridently protested her extra-legal detention, did not attend today`s hearing because she wasn`t feeling well.
Liu Xiaobo`s Nobel prize infuriated China`s communist leaders, who adamantly reject his calls for multiparty Western-style democracy.
PTI
