Liu Xiaobo receives the 2010 Nobel peace prize

2005: Liu Xiaobo, who is serving 11 years for incitement to subvert state power, in a photograph by his wife Liu Xia Photograph: Liu Xia

2005: Liu Xiaobo photographed by his wife Liu Xia Photograph: Liu Xia

2005: Liu Xiaobo photographed by his wife Liu Xia Photograph: Liu Xia

2005: Liu Xiaobo during an interview with Japan's Kyodo News Photograph: AP

An undated picture of Liu Xiaobo at a meeting in Beijing, taken by his wife Liu Xia Photograph: Liu Xia/EPA

An undated picture of Liu Xiaobo in Beijing, taken by his wife Liu Xia Photograph: Liu Xia/EPA

Liu Xiaobo in an undated photo released by his family Photograph: Reuters

22 October 2002: Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia in Beijing Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Liu Xiaobo and Liu Xia in an undated photo released by his family Photograph: Reuters

28 October 2008: Liu Xiaobo reading a letter beside the grave of Bao Zunxin, a Chinese historian and political dissident who was jailed for his role in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests Photograph: AP

25 June 2009: A pro-democracy activist in Hong Kong holds a placard of Liu Xiaobo during a protest demanding his release Photograph: Ym Yik/EPA

23 October 2009: Pro-democracy activists hold pictures of Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

25 December 2009: A policeman stands by a poster of Liu Xiaobo left by protesters outside the China liaison office in Hong Kong Photograph: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images

1 January 2010: Pro-democracy demonstrators in Hong Kong Photograph: Ym Yik/EPA

12 January 2010: Pro-democracy protesters hold a vigil for Liu Xiaobo in Hong Kong Photograph: Vincent Yu/AP

11 February 2010: Hong Kong police monitor protesters calling for Liu Xiaobo's release outside the China liaison office Photograph: Mike Clarke/AFP/Getty Images

28 September 2010: Liu Xia, the wife of Liu Xiaobo, during an interview in Beijing Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

8 October 2010: The Norwegian Nobel committee chairman, Thorbjoern Jagland, holds a photograph of Liu Xiaobo Photograph: Aleksander Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

8 October 2010: A police officer gestures to reporters at the entrance of a residential compound where Liu Xiaobo's wife, Liu Xia, lives in Beijing Photograph: Petar Kujundzic/Reuters

8 October 2010: A police officer seals off a road to Liu Xia's apartment Photograph: Andy Wong/AP

8 October 2010: A security guard, front left, speaks to journalists as authorities stop the media entering Liu Xia's apartment Photograph: Andy Wong/AP