14/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - EU calls on China to release campaigners. On 11 April, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton again called on the Chinese authorities “to release all the individuals who are imprisoned or detained for the peaceful expression of their views”. The EU is “deeply concerned” by the confirmation on appeal of the four-year prison sentence handed down to human rights defender Xu Zhiyong, and by the ongoing trials of human rights defenders who have been prosecuted in relation to their “peaceful action against corruption and public advocacy of the rule of law, transparency and social justice”, Ashton adds. She also called on China to guarantee the protection and freedoms to which these people are entitled under international human rights law and China's constitution. (CG)