The wife of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo wants her attorneys to challenge the authorities' ill-treatment of herself, her brother and her husband, a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Liu Xia, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate's wife, who herself is under house arrest, is preparing to sue the government officials after a court in suburban Beijing on June 8 sentenced her brother Liu Hui to 11 years in prison for fraud, which many call a "warning to the whole family".
Her husband is also in prison serving an 11-year jail term. He was imprisoned on charges of subversion after he called for changes in the Beijing's one-party political system.
Lawyers representing Liu Xia said she is planning to sue the authorities for illegally putting her under house arrest and she was hoping for her husband's case to be retried, according to the Associated Press.
"Her biggest worry at the moment is her brother. She feels guilty for causing such huge trouble and negative influence to his family," said Shang Baojun, one of Liu Xia's lawyers.
"She says would do anything to alleviate her brother's suffering," said Shang.
The decision to sue the authorities comes a week after her lawyers released an open letter she wrote to the Chinese President Xi Jinping in protest against the jailing of her brother.
According to Shang Baojun, she rarely gets any chance to express herself out of fear of further retaliation but on Thursday she got a rare chance to visit her lawyers where she handed a letter to them urging to prepare a legal petition for her husband's case to be retried.
She has also given her legal team a separate letter authorizing and entrusting them to represent her in suing the Beijing authorities for holding her under house arrest since her husband won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010.
