Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo dies at 61

Chinese Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo who was jailed for his pro-democracy work, died in hospital aged 61 on Thursday.

Over a month back, he was transferred from prison to hospital to be treated for late-stage liver cancer.

The activist played a significant role in the Tiananmen protests of June 1989 which ended in bloodshed when they were quashed by troops.

Liu's death puts China in dubious company as he became the first Nobel Peace Prize laureate to die in custody since German pacifist Carl von Ossietzky, who passed away in a hospital while held by the Nazis in 1938.

Germany had offered to treat Liu, calling for a "signal of humanity" from China.

In early July, Liu's Chinese doctors said he was not healthy enough to be sent abroad for treatment, a position that was contradicted by US and German medical experts invited by the hospital to examine Liu's condition.

OneIndia News (with inputs)