Nobel jury chief places Peace Prize on Liu's empty chair

OSLO: The head of the Nobel Committee on Friday placed the Peace Prize diploma and gold medal on an empty chair representing absent laureate Liu Xiaobo, who languishes in a Chinese prison.

"We regret that the laureate is not present here today," Thorbjoern Jagland said, standing on a flower-covered podium in the Oslo city hall under a large smiling portrait of the absent laureate.

Jagland placed the prestigious award on the empty chair, explaining it was impossible to hand it to Liu or any of his close family members, who were prevented from travelling to Oslo for the ceremony.

Liu, 54, is an author and former professor who was at the forefront of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests.

He was jailed in December 2009 for 11 years on subversion charges after co-authoring "Charter 08", a manifesto that spread quickly on the Internet calling for political reform and greater rights in China.