Chinese police have put under house arrest the wife of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xaobo, a former professor sentenced in December to 11 years imprisonment for his role in the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement.

The human rights group Freedom Now released a statement on Sunday saying Liu Xia was also not allowed by police to use her mobile phone preventing her from talking to reporters. The group declined to name the source of the information to protect the person from possible arrest by Chinese authorities.

Liu Xia's last statements were on Friday when she disclosed that police escorted her to see her husband in prison. She managed to relay the peace laureate's message to friends saying he dedicates the award to those killed by police and soldiers during the deadly crackdown of the pro-democracy movement in 1989. Mr. Liu's message was forwarded to the media.

Mrs. Liu also said that officials of the prison in the northeastern city of Jinzhou told her husband that he had won the prize.

In a Twitter message, Mrs. Liu also said that she was detained on Friday and her husband was informed of the award the following day.

Meanwhile, police o stopped Liu's supporters from celebrating at a restaurant in Beijing on Friday and blocked news and online discussion of the awarding. Three supporters were detained for eight days while one activist was placed under house arrest.