Authorities in Beijing have sentenced AIDS activist Hu Jia to three-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for “incitement to subversion” after he wrote articles online critical of China’s hosting of the Olympics. The sentence was handed down Thursday by the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court.
We cannot accept this verdict, because the peaceful words Hu expressed are irrelevant to state power. Therefore, the 3 1/2-year prison sentence is inappropriate.
– Hu’s lawyer, Li Fangping, speaking to Mandarin reporter Ding Xiao
Hu’s wife, blogger and fellow activist Zeng Jinyan, was allowed to attend the hearing where the sentence was handed down. She rejected the court case against her husband.
They can use every tactic in the book to shut me up, but they can’t change the way I feel about this. Hu Jia is as proud as everyone else that China will host the next Olympic Games. But he doesn’t want your average poor Chinese nobody to suffer more on account of the Olympics.
– from an interview with Cantonese service reporter Grace Kei Lai-see
Hu, who suffers from Hepatitis B, was detained Dec. 27 after spending months under virtual house arrest because of his civil rights lobbying. His arrest came after he published a number of articles online calling for human rights, in a campaign that was linked to Beijing’s hosting of the Olympics this summer.
Hu’s mother described her son as a sacrifical lamb on the altar of Chinese politics, saying he appeared strained and worried in the dock, not looking at his family.
I feel really wronged. In fact what Hu Jia did is good for society. After the trial, the judge asked family members to voice our opinions of the sentencing. I told him that if you let people speak freely, the sky won’t fall in. They didn’t let him to say anything, not like last time…I felt he was under great pressure. When he was led into court, he didn’t see us. After the trial, he didn’t look at us either.
Around 200 people congregated outside the court buildings to support Hu. Supporter Zhou Li said:
Many passers-by asked what happened in this court room. Petitioners on the scene then told them that a good man who helps the government and supports China is on trial. The sentencing is very disappointing. The Chinese government has made another mistake.
– supporter Zhou Li
The court barred media reporters from interviewing Hu’s family. After the trial, his lawyer met Hu for a brief meeting.
Li Fangping said Hu felt there would not be much point in appealing, but that there was some hope that his sentence might be shortened for health reasons.
Filed under: 2008_olympics, China, East Asia, GFW, Newsdesk, bloggers, blogging, cantonese, china_civil_rights, china_civilrights, china_health, china_internet, china_law, china_media, china_rights, china_unrest, citizenjournalism, east_asia, freespeech, governance, human_rights | Tagged: beijing_2008, china_aids, china_blogger, china_rights, hu_jia, olympics, zeng_jinyan
