Katie Couric's Notebook: Nobel Prize

He helped organize a peaceful, pro-democracy protest that was met by a military crackdown. While no one knows the death toll, it could have been several thousand. Following those protests, Liu went on to publicly call for a multi-party democracy in China, and was jailed as a consequence.

Today in Oslo, a Nobel Peace Prize medal glittered on an empty chair before a gathered crowd. Liu is still in prison, but his message can not be contained in his cell.

He once wrote that he hopes no other person will be jailed in China for speaking out.

But many have been. As our own Celia Hatton reports, there are nearly 1,500 known political prisoners in China, and the U.S. government suspects there are many more.

Liu dedicated his prize to the martyrs of the Tiananmen protests.

Their light of freedom continues to shine in the darkest corners of the world.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.