Beijing ? More than 100 Chinese activists have signed and released an open letter asking that Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo be released from prison.

The letter released late Thursday and posted online also asks China’s leaders to respond to the peace prize “with realism and reason.”

China has responded angrily to the award, calling Liu a criminal.

The literary critic and activist is serving an 11-year sentence for subversion after co-authoring a call for political reform in China.