Beijing (CNN) — Jailed Chinese dissident and Nobel peace laureate Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer and granted medical parole, his lawyer told CNN.
“When a prison clinic is unable to deal with an inmate’s medical condition, the authorities can approve outside treatment in accordance with law,” said Liu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, Monday.
“I understand from his family that his request was approved.”
Liu, 61, is being treated at a hospital in Shenyang in northeastern China after receiving the diagnosis in late May. He had been serving an 11-year prison sentence for “inciting subversion of state power” in nearby Jinzhou.
The Chinese government confirmed Liu’s diagnosis and parole in a statement released late Monday.
“The No. 1 Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University (in Shenyang) has formed a medical team comprised of eight nationally renowned oncologists and drawn up a treatment plan,” it said. “Liu is currently being treated in accordance with the plan.”
Nobel peace prize
A prolific writer and longtime activist, Liu had been in and out of jail since the bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
His most recent conviction on Christmas Day 2009 stemmed from his co-authorship of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reform and human rights in China.
In 2010, while in prison, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.”
An infuriated Beijing tried to censor the news and boycott the award, insisting Liu was a common criminal and that the prize was nothing more than a Western plot against China.
The Communist government also put Liu’s wife under house arrest, rounded up his supporters and froze diplomatic relations with Norway — where the Nobel peace laureate was selected and the prize was given.
Despite China’s refusal to let Liu or a representative travel to accept the award, the Nobel ceremony organizers placed his citation and medal on an empty chair in a poignant event held in Oslo in December 2010.
This story was first published on cnn.com, “Nobel-winning Chinese dissident given medical parole after cancer diagnosis.”
