Havel nominates Chinese dissent for Nobel Prize

Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has joined forces with lawmakers and anti-communist dissidents to nominate a Chinese dissident for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Updated on: Feb 3, 2010, 22:02:15 IST

AP | By HT Correspondent, Prague

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Former Czech President Vaclav Havel has joined forces with lawmakers and anti-communist dissidents to nominate a Chinese dissident for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.

Liu Xiaobo was sentenced in December to 11 years in prison for co-writing an appeal titled ``Charter 08'' calling for expanded political freedoms in China and an end to Communist Party dominance.

The document was modeled on the Charter 77 human rights manifesto co-written by Havel, then a dissident playwright and later president of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic.

Senator Alexandr Vondra said Wednesday that 40 Czech lawmakers and dozens of those who signed the original Charter 77 support the nomination.

Havel joined the initiative with a separate nomination signed by international figures, including the Dalai Lama.

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