Chinese Nobel Peace Prize winning rights activist Liu Xiaobo has been released from prison on medical parole and is being treated in hospital for late-stage liver cancer, his lawyer said on Monday in messages seen by Reuters.
Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as "Charter 08" calling for sweeping political reforms in China.
In December 2010, Liu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his activism promoting human rights in China, causing China to freeze diplomatic ties with Norway.
The Nobel committee said Liu was "the foremost symbol" of the human rights struggle in China.
Shang Baojun, Liu's lawyer, confirmed the news of Liu's treatment in the city of Shenyang, and said the medical parole had been approved, in messages seen by Reuters.
Rights group Amnesty International also confirmed the news of Liu's illness in a tweet.
When asked about Liu, China's foreign ministry, the only government body that will regularly answer questions from the foreign media, said it was not aware of the situation.
China and Norway normalised ties in December last year.
Liu Xia, Liu's wife who has been under effective house arrest since her husband won the Nobel Peace Prize, is suffering from depression but has been allowed to visit him in prison about once a month, a source close to the dissident told Reuters.
Liu was not allowed to attend his father-in-law's funeral last year and his mother-in-law's funeral this year, said the source who asked not to be identified.
Liu had been incarcerated at Jinzhou Penitentiary in Liaoning, his home province in northeast China, before being moved to the hospital for treatment.
Rights group Amnesty International also confirmed the news of Liu's illness in a tweet.
Amnesty International's China Researcher, William Nee, said authorities should ensure Liu was receiving adequate medical care and he called for the immediate and unconditional release of Liu and his wife.
"Obviously, it's a shameful situation and it's incredibly sad to see one of China's most prominent intellectuals suffer from such a terrible illness when he never should've been detained in the first place," Nee said.
