Bloggers, well-wishers detained, questioned outside Hu Jia’s house

Dozens of petitioners went to Hu Jia’s home in eastern Beijing on Sunday, Jan. 20 in an effort to send his wife Zeng Jinyan some milk powder for their baby daughter. But national security police camped outside Hu’s home stopped the petitioners, sending some of them to the Beijing Dispersion Center.

On Sunday, a netizen by the cyber name “Little Hammer” also tried to deliver baby formula to Zeng Jinyan. On his blog, “Little Hammer” detailed his encounter with police there who blocked his way, questioning him for several hours. “How precious freedom is! But Hu Jia sacrificed his own freedom for all of us.” “Little Hammer” wrote. Some other blog posts and messages on the Internet indicate that several more people traveled to Hu’s home on Sunday in hope of either visiting Zeng or giving her milk powder, but seemingly none of them succeeded.
Meanwhile, two women expressed solidarity with Zeng Jinyan, because their own husbands have been jailed for advocating rights and freedom. They were Yuan Weijing, wife of blind activist Chen Guangcheng of Shandong, and Jia Jianying, wife of Beijing dissident He Depu.

Yuan Weijing, herself currently under house arrest, published an open letter to the Chinese leadership on the Internet Monday calling for immediate release of Hu Jia.

“I worry about Hu Jia’s health as well as his wife’s situation. What Hu Jia did is just telling the world what is happening in China, such as the story of lawyer Gao Zhisheng, Chen Guangcheng, Guo Feixiong, ect. Chinese media cannot report these stories in a timely manner. I really cannot understand why Hu Jia was charged for ‘inciting subversion by just doing what Chinese media couldn’t do.’” Yuan said.

Jia Jianying also condemned the arrest of Hu Jia, “The authorities should release all jailed dissidents before the Olympics, but instead they are detaining more. This is completely against the Olympic spirit.”

On Sunday, Zeng Jinyan refused to allow police into her apartment, saying that the house arrest operating against her and the baby is illegal.

According to Teng Biao, Hu Jia’s friend and a legal scholar, police then threatened Zeng by saying that “You are not innocent. You have involved in many things Hu did.” That means, according to Teng, police can arrest Zeng at any time. Police even revealed detention arrangements by saying that “though Zeng is feeding an infant, once detained, the police can allow her to return home in every three hours to feed the baby.”

Zeng Jinyan herself is an AIDS activist who won an award from the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders press freedom group alongside Hu Jia last year. Zeng was listed as one of the 100 Most Influential People of the World by the Time magazine last May.

On Sunday, police showed Zeng a photocopy of a message written by her husband in detention, but took it away as soon as Zeng finished reading it. According to Teng Biao, Hu Jia’s message expressed concern about his wife and daughter and wished his own mother good health, but the message didn’t say anything about his situation in detention. Police Sunday told Hu’s wife that Hu has his own bathroom and the authorities prepare special vegetarian meals for him, given his status as a cirrhosis patient.

Hu Jia’s friends are concerned about his health because police refuse to take in his prescription drugs sent by his family. Hu’s lawyer submitted application for parole last week but has not yet received any response from the authorities.

Teng Biao doubts about what police said, and thinks only lawyer visit can confirm Hu’s health and treatment in detention. “Everyone outside worries a lot about his health, therefore police attempt to tell us outside that Hu’s condition is normal. But now the most important thing is to allow a lawyer to visit Hu Jia, in order to know his real situation.”

Reporter: Ding Xiao

Translated by Chen Ping

Photo: courtesy of Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan

Related links:

Petition for Hu Jia’s release

Black and White Cat

Rebecca MacKinnon

Global Voices