Chinese dissident and Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo dies at 61

Nobel Peace laureate Liu Xiaobo died in a northern Chinese hospital of multiple organ failure on Thursday, Shenyang justice authorities announced in a statement.

Liu, 61, was granted medical parole last month after being diagnosed with terminal liver cancer in late May following a “routine check-up”, according to the Shenyang Justice Bureau.

But news of his illness did not become public until the end of June.

He was being treated in Shenyang, Liaoning province, at the First Hospital of China Medical University. He was also the only living recipient of the prize to still be in custody.

Close friends said they were barred from visiting Liu during his treatment, and he and his family were kept in isolation, watched around the clock by state security agents.