A well-known dissident has been formally arrested after being detained for six months on suspicion of inciting subversion, Chinese state media has reported.

Liu Xiaobo was charged on with “alleged agitation activities” aimed at overthrowing the government and the nation’s socialist system, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

He has been in police custody since December 8, the day before the publication of a document that he co-authored, appealing for political reform in China and an end to one-party rule.

“Liu has been engaged in agitation activities, such as the spreading of rumours and defaming of the government, aimed at subversion of the state and overthrowing the socialism system in recent years,” Xinhua News Agency quoted a Beijing police statement as saying.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/06/200962442843135798.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liu_Xiaobo