Peace Laureate Liu Xiaobo To Be Represented By Empty Chair In Nobel Ceremony
December 10th, 2010 - 7:42 pm ICT by GDBy Gina Gomez
Dec 10, (THAINDIAN NEWS) As the world celebrates the International Human Rights Day on Friday, the Nobel committee is all set to honor Chinese dissident and activist Liu Xiaobo in a gala ceremony today. However, for the very first time in the history of the Nobel Prize, the recipient would not be present in the ceremony to collect the award as he serving a sentence in China for his initiatives to bring about democratic reforms in the single party system of China.
According to officials of the Nobel committee, the imprisoned activist and professor would be represented in Friday’s award ceremony with an empty chair symbolizing his inability to be present in the event due to his imprisonment. Even the 54-year-old activist’s wife Liu Xia would not be able to grace the event as she has been put under house arrest by the Chinese government. Sources say that all the close friends of Liu Xiaobo in China who wanted to represent the activist in the prestigious award ceremony failed to do so as they were not allowed to leave the country for Oslo.
In an announcement that was made in the month of October this year, the Nobel committee revealed that Liu Xiaobo is the proud recipient of this year’s Nobel Prize for Peace noting that the activist was the perfect candidate for the honor for his ‘long and non-violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.’ The decision of the Nobel committee attracted the ire of the Chinese government who described Liu Xiaobo’s victory as a “desecration” of the peace prize while describing him as a ‘criminal.’
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