Calls for full release as Nobel winner Liu Xiaobo battles cancer
Dissident, who was jailed over calls for greater democracy in China, is being treated for liver cancer, according to prison authorities
China’s jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo has been granted medical parole after being diagnosed with liver cancer, according to the Liaoning Prison Administration Bureau.
According to the brief statement on the authority’s website, Liu was diagnosed with liver cancer “recently” and he was approved to be treated at the First Hospital of China Medical University in Shenyang. A team of eight renowned Chinese cancer experts has been assigned to treat him, and he was receiving treatment, the prison authority added.
The Nobel laureate’s brother Liu Xiaoxuan said earlier that Liu was diagnosed with terminal liver cancer on May 23, Liu’s lawyer, Mo Shaoping, confirmed to the South China Morning Post. The duration of the medical parole was not immediately clear.
Liu, who was jailed over his calls for greater democracy in China, did not plan to seek treatment overseas, Mo said.
Shang Baojun, another lawyer who represented Liu Xiaobo, 61, cited family members as saying he looked “seriously” ill.