Nobel Peace Prize Gala Under Siege

Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo will probably not receive his Nobel Peace Prize 2010. File photo

It is highly doubtful that the Nobel Peace Prize will be handed out 2010, as China most probably will not let either Prize winner Liu Xiaobo or a member of his family to attend the ceremony.

According to the Nobel commettee's rules. the award can only be collected by the laureate or close family. Liu is currently serving a 11 year sentence in jail, while his wife, Liu Xia, is under house arrest.

If the Nobel Peace Prize is not handed out 2010, it will be the first time since 1936, when there was no one present to accept the medal and diploma for German journalist Carl von Ossietzky, who was seriously ill and not allowed to leave Nazi Germany.

Meanwhile, as a result of China's unprecedented pressure for a boycott, 5 more countries have refused to attend the Nobel Peace Prize gala in Oslo on 10 December.

The six countries who have declined their invitations so far are Russia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Morocco, Iraq and China itself. Ambassadors of 36 states have confirmed they will attend, while 16 have not answered yet.

In October, jailed Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo has been named the winner of the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize despite a warning against the move by Beijing.

Norwegian Nobel Committee president Thorbjoern Jagland said in Oslo that Liu was "the foremost symbol of the wide-ranging struggle for human rights in China".

Liu, 54, was jailed for 11 years on Christmas Day last year for drafting Charter 08, which called for multiparty democracy and respect for human rights in China.

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