China releases Nobel laureate with terminal cancer on parole

BEIJING: China’s Nobel peace prize laureate Liu Xiaobo ( pictured) has been transferred on parole from prison to a hospital for terminal cancer treatment, his lawyer said on Monday, but concerned supporters called for his unconditional release.

Liu, who has about three years of his 11-year sentence to serve, was diagnosed with late-stage liver cancer on May 23 and granted medical parole days later, his lawyer Mo Shaoping said.

The 61-year-old democracy campaigner was being treated at a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang, where he was imprisoned.

“He has no special plans. He is just receiving medical treatment for his illness,” Mo said.

The writer was sentenced in 2009 for “subversion” after spearheading a bold petition for democratic reforms. He was awarded the Nobel prize while in jail a year later and was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony in Oslo. Supporters demanded that Liu be granted the best medical care and criticised his treatment so far.

While the Nobel Committee said it was “delighted” to learn that Liu was finally freed, it “strongly regrets that it took serious illness before Chinese authorities were willing to release him from jail”. “Chinese authorities carry a heavy responsibility if Liu Xiaobo, because of his imprisonment, has been denied necessary medical treatment,” it said in a statement.

The committee called for his unconditional release and said he should be offered the best possible treatment in China or abroad.

Patrick Poon, China researcher at rights group Amnesty International, urged authorities to ensure Liu has access to his family.

Poon also called for Liu and “all others imprisoned solely for exercising their human rights” to be immediately and unconditionally released.

“Adding injury to insult, Liu Xiaobo has been diagnosed with a grave illness in prison, where he should never have been put in the first place,” Poon said.

Liu’s release was not reported by state media and his name remained blocked from searches on the Weibo social media website.

Asked about Liu’s parole, Foreign M,inistry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular news briefing: “I am not aware of the situation you’re talking about.” Liu is one of only three people to have won the Nobel award while jailed by their own government.

China strongly condemned prize as foreign interference in internal affairs.

Diplomatic ties and trade talks between Beijing and Oslo were frozen, with China halting Norwegian salmon imports. Relations were only normalised last December.

The international community has for years been calling for Liu’s release.

Liu was arrested in 2008 after cowriting Charter 08, a bold petition that called for the protection of basic human rights and reform of China’s one-party Communist system. the its