Video surfaces apparently showing terminally ill Nobel Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo’s life in prison
The video seems to show the Chinese activist taking part in activities in jail and his medical treatment, but it is not clear whether the man shown is Liu, or where the video was filmed
A three-minute video apparently showing aspects of Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo’s time in prison appeared on YouTube late on Wednesday, as criticism mounts worldwide over whether the authorities’ sudden decision to grant him parole on medical grounds because of his cancer came too late.
The source of the video and where it was filmed were not immediately clear, but it purported to show Liu in Jinzhou prison in the northeastern Liaoning province, where he had served eight years of an 11-year term for inciting subversion of state power.
He had faced the charge after helping to write a petition known as Charter 08, calling for sweeping political reforms on the mainland.
Liu was granted medical parole about a month ago, with his lawyer saying he had terminal liver cancer. The authorities said he was being treated in the First Hospital, part of the China Medical University in Shenyang, although his whereabouts have not been confirmed.
The civil rights and political activist was awarded the Nobel Prize in 2010, but was represented by an empty chair at the ceremony in Oslo. The award led to a rupture of ties between China and Norway.
The video begins with a black and white text introduction giving details of Liu’s sentence, after which a
man who roughly resembles Liu is seen performing various outdoor activities such as playing badminton with a uniformed jail guard, jogging and shovelling snow in winter.