23:07 – China: the widow of dissident Liu Xiaobo arrives in Berlin

The widow of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo arrived in Berlin on Tuesday, finding freedom eight years after her husband was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, which has led her to live under house arrest.

The plane with Liu Xia, who was never convicted for any reason, landed shortly before 1500 GMT at Tegel Airport in Berlin, almost a year to the day after Liu Xiaobo's death on 13 August. July 2017, shortly after his release from prison

This 57-year-old woman then rushed into a van waiting for her on the tarmac, without making any statements, according to AFP journalists there. 19659002] Among the people who welcomed him at the airport were the Chinese writer in exile Liao Yiwu and the 2009 Nobel Prize winner for literature, the German Herta Müller, according to the same source.

The poet with short hair, who had briefly stopped at Hel sinki wanted to travel to the German capital for several years to find relatives.

Beijing had confirmed his departure from China, saying that Ms. Liu was going to Germany to follow "medical treatment". According to relatives, she suffers from a severe depression.

Her husband Liu Xiaobo, a figure of Tiananmen demonstrations for democracy, was sentenced in 2009 to 11 years in prison for "subversion" for having co-signed an appeal for of free elections in China.

The Communist regime had very badly taken the granting of the Nobel Peace Prize to Liu Xiaobo the following year and rejected the Western countries' calls for his release, including when the dissident was diagnosed with cancer. liver in 2017.

Hospitalized but prevented from leaving China to be treated abroad, Liu Xiaobo died on July 13, 2017 at the age of 61 in a Chinese hospital, a few weeks after being released conditional for health reasons. He was 61.

– False hopes –

Ms. Liu had since remained under very close surveillance. The Chinese authorities claimed that she was free to move, but foreign journalists and diplomats were turned back when they tried to approach her Beijing home.

After a year of false hopes for a release soon, Liu Xia said finally obtained a pbadport last week, told AFP one of his relatives who requested anonymity.

"I hope that Liu Xia can find peace and health in Germany," said the top Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra? ad Al Hussein, who called his situation "tragic"

His arrival in Germany comes after a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin

Merkel, who has repeatedly raised the issue of human rights in China, has apparently raised the case of Liu Xia during a trip to Beijing last May, during which e She met wives of imprisoned lawyers.

Merkel's visit to Beijing was "clearly decisive," said the relative.

The approach of the first anniversary of Liu Xiaobo's death also seems directly related to the liberation of his widow.

– Question of image –

"The Chinese government may have understood that keeping it under house arrest gave Chinese people a mean, cruel and vindictive image," observes Elaine Pearson , Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch

Beijing may also seek to appease Europeans before a China-EU summit next week in Beijing.

"It's a matter of image for China when it is engaged in a trade war with the United States," notes a Western diplomat.

But it should not be concluded that the situation human rights in China is improving. "We see that it is getting worse," he adds.

There was no sign of a sudden departure from the widow of the dissident. On Monday, the building where she lived was still under the supervision of several guards.

Despite the increased security, AFP could meet her in her apartment, but she refused any interview, saying she feared measures retaliation against his brother, who is not allowed to leave China