 Chinese
human rights activist and writer Liu Xiaobo who is currently
serving 11 years of imprisonment in a China for alleged "inciting
subversion of state power" has become 2010 Nobel Peace
Prize Laureate.
In February 2010 Liu Xiaobo was nominated for the Nobel Peace
prize by Vaclav Havel, Dalai Lama, Andre Glucksmann, Vartan
Gregorian, Mike Moore, Karel Schwarzenberg, Desmond Tutu and
Grigory Yavlinsky.
***
For the first time public attention was drawn to 54 year old
Liu in 1989 during bloody suppression of Tiananmen Square
protests. These demonstrations were organised by students
from April 15 through June 4, 1989.
Liu returned to China from the US where he had been a visiting
scholar so that to take part in the demonstrations. In June
1989 right after the Tiananman Square protest, Liu Xiaobo
was detained and imprisoned for two years.
For some time Prof.Liu lectured in the Beijing Normal University,
but then he was suspended from work.
In 1996 Liu was arrested again, this time for his statements
about one-party system in China. He was sent to “retraining”,
i.e. to a labour camp, for three years.
It was there where he met Liu Xia who soon became his spouse.
After Liu returned from the labour camp, he continued making
public statements on the topics prohibited in China, for example,
he criticized the Chinese authorities for their attitude to
the Tibet problem.
Charter 08 which invoked wrath of the authorities against
Liu was published in December 2008. The manifest called to
creation of a new China’s constitution, independent judiciary
and freedom of speech.
About 300 scholars, actors, lawyers and human rights activists
supported Charter 08. Police conducted a night search in Liu’s
flat and arrested the dissident two days prior to publication
of the document.
However, the fact that Liu had been arrested was admitted
by the authorities only a month later. In 2009 the trial (lasting
for a day only) sentenced Liu to 11 years of imprisonment.
Dissident’s wife Liu Xia is allowed to visit her husband
once a month. Their meetings under supervision o two guards
and a video camera last only for one hour.
(Liu Xiaobo biography made on the basis of BBC publications).
***
Nobel Prizes are awarded by special Nobel Committees, one
per each field of thought, consisting of five persons. The
Nobel Peace Prize Committee is elected by the Norwegian parliament
(Storing).
In contrast to other Nobel prizes, not only certain persons
but also some organisations enjoy the right to nominate candidates
for the Peace Prize.
Every year the Committee receives thousands of applications,
however, only 200 applications are discussed by the Committee.
Nominations for the current year come until February 1, and
final decisions are taken in October.
The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded by the Chair of the Norwegian
Nobel Committee in Oslo in the presence of the King of Norway
and members of the Royal Family.
See also:
www.yavlinsky.ru
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