Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese writer, human rights activist, and Nobel Prize laureate. He was an active participant in the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, for which he was sentenced to two years in prison. Later, ne was sent to a labor camp for three years for criticizing China’s one-party rule. In 2008, he was arrested again for penning Charter 8, a petition calling for democracy and an end to censorship. He received a Nobel Peace Prize while imprisoned and died of liver cancer in 2017 while still in custody of the Chinese government.

On the one year anniversary of his death, someone posted this essay that Liu had written for his trial in 2009 titled “I have no enemies: My final Statement” around various parts of the Lower East Side. Liu wasn’t allowed to read this statement during the trial, but it served as the laureate’s speech delivered by Liv Ullmann at the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony.

I have no enemies, and no hatred. None of the police who have monitored, arrested and interrogated me, the prosecutors who prosecuted me, or the judges who sentence me, are my enemies. While I’m unable to accept your surveillance, arrest, prosecution or sentencing, I respect your professions and personalities, including Zhang Rongge and Pan Xueqing who act for the prosecution at present. I was aware of your respect and sincerity in your interrogation of me on December 3.

For hatred is corrosive of a person’s wisdom and conscience; the mentality of enmity can poison a nation’s spirit, instigate brutal life and death struggles, destroy a society’s tolerance and humanity, and block a nation’s progress to freedom and democracy. I hope therefore to be able to transcend my personal vicissitudes in understanding the development of the state and changes in society, to counter the hostility of the regime with the best of intentions, and defuse hate with love….

I do not feel guilty for following my constitutional right to freedom of expression, for fulfilling my social responsibility as a Chinese citizen. Even if accused of it, I would have no complaints.

—Liu Xiaobo, December 23 2009