China's most outspoken dissident, Liu Xiaobo, who is less than one year into an 11-year jail term, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday.
Liu, 54, was sentenced in 2009 to 11 years behind bars for campaigning for criticizing China's one-party authoritarian rule.
He is the co-author of Charter 08, a manifesto calling for political reforms in China, and joined student protests on Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 that led to hundreds of civilians being killed.
The Chinese was awarded the prize for "for his long and nonviolent struggle for fundamental human rights in China," the Nobel Committee said in a statement.
RIA Novosti
