Nobel Peace Prize Winner Liu Xiaobo

Detention, Arrest and Sentencing
During the evening of Dec. 8, 2008, police went to Liu's home and took him into detention. The officers could not say why they had taken Liu into custody, but the move was probably precipitated by the imminent release of Charter 08, a document apparently co-authored by Liu that pleaded for democratic reform in China and was signed by hundreds of prominent intellectuals. He would not be formally arrested until June 2009, when he was charged with "inciting subversion of state power" because of his hand in Charter 08. In the photo above, police keep a journalist from photographing supporters of Liu at the Beijing courthouse where he was sentenced on Christmas Day of 2009 to 11 years in prison.

• Despite China Threats, Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Dissident Liu Xiaobo