Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo Died of Liver Cancer

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo died of liver cancer July 13, 2017. Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for “inciting subversion of state power” after he helped write a petition known as “Charter 08” calling for sweeping political reforms.

He was recently moved from prison to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang to be treated. The Shenyang Bureau of Justice said in a brief statement on its website that Liu had suffered multiple organ failure and efforts to save him had failed.

The leader of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, which awards the peace prize, said the Chinese government bore a heavy responsibility for his death. “We find it deeply disturbing that Liu Xiaobo was not transferred to a facility where he could receive adequate medical treatment before he became terminally ill,” said Berit Reiss-Andersen. “The Chinese Government bears a heavy responsibility for his premature death,” she said in an emailed statement.

Amnesty International Secretary General Salil Shetty said in a statement that efforts must now be made to ensure his wife is no longer persecuted, adding Liu had fought tirelessly for human rights.

“He did so in the face of the most relentless and often brutal opposition from the Chinese government. Time and again they tried to silence him, and time and again they failed,” Shetty said.

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