China Jails Another Rights Activist Before Olympics

China Jails Another Rights Activist Before Olympics

Zeng Jinyan (L), the wife of human rights activist Hu Jia holds her baby as she walks with Hu’s mother (C) while a Chinese policeman follows behind. (Teh Eng Koon/AFP/Getty Images)

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BEIJING—A Chinese dissident outspoken on Tibet and other sensitive topics was jailed for three-and-a-half years on Thursday, a conviction likely to become a focus of international rights campaigns ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

A Beijing court found human rights activist Hu Jia, 34, guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” for criticising the ruling Communist Party. Hu had pleaded not guilty.

But the Communist Party mouthpiece, Xinhua news agency said he had made a “confession of crime and acceptance of punishment”, leading the court to issue a relatively light sentence. Hu’s two lawyers said he had acknowledged “excesses”.

“It’s the defence position that citizens have the right to free speech,” one of his lawyers, Li Fangping, told reporters outside the courthouse.

“The law on inciting subversion of state power doesn’t have a clear boundary, but the Constitution guarantees citizens freedom of speech.”

The United States said it was dismayed by the verdict.

“In this Olympic year, we urge China to seize the opportunity to put its best face forward and take steps to improve its record on human rights and religious freedom,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

Hu has 10 days starting on Friday to decide whether to appeal, but Li Jinsong said he was unlikely to do so. Hu could apply for medical release to treat a bad liver and other illnesses, the lawyer added.

The “inciting subversion” charge can attract a jail term of five years or longer, and before the hearing Li Fangping said a long sentence was likely. After the hearing he said he was unaware of any deal in return for the sentence.

Another Chinese dissident, Yang Chunlin, who called for human rights to take precedence over the Olympic Games, was sentenced to five years in jail in late March for the same crime.

Foreign reporters and diplomats excluded

Foreign reporters and diplomats were excluded from Hu’s hearing. Dozens of well-wishers gathered outside the court to express support for Hu and rowdily air their own grievances.

“Hu Jia is a hero to us because he stood up to speak out, so we should also speak out,” said one of them, Li Hai.

Betrayal

International human rights groups were quick to condemn the verdict.

“This verdict is a slap in the face for Hu Jia and a warning to any other activists in China who dare to raise human rights concerns publicly,” said Mark Allison of Amnesty International.

“It also betrays promises made by Chinese officials that human rights would improve in the run-up to the Olympics.”

Starting with advocacy for rural AIDS sufferers, Hu emerged as one of the nation’s most vocal advocates of democratic rights, religious freedom and self-determination for Tibet, which has recently been shaken by protests and a security crackdown.

“Hu spread malicious rumours, and committed libel in an attempt to subvert the state’s political power and socialist system,” the court said, according to Xinhua.

His conviction is likely to become a focus for critics of the Communist Party’s strict controls on dissent and protest ahead of the Olympics in August.

Rice raised Hu’s case

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised Hu’s case when in Beijing in February, and the European Union and other Western governments have also pressed China on the matter.

Hu’s relatively rapid trial suggested authorities wanted to get it out of the way well before the Games, said Joshua Rosenzweig of the Duihua Foundation, a San Francisco-based group that works to free Chinese political prisoners.

“I think a lot of people hoped that, given the damage that China’s international image has suffered over the past few weeks, that Hu would have been treated with more leniency,” Rosenzweig said.

Hu was detained by police in late December after spending more than 200 days under house arrest in a Beijing apartment complex called Bobo Freedom City.

“I don’t think that three-and-a-half years is actually all that light,” said Rosenzweig. “Especially when you add in the two years of what amounts to illegal house arrest.”

Wife still under house arrest

Hu’s wife, Zeng Jinyan, who has also often criticised the Chinese government, and their infant daughter remain under house arrest and their telephone is cut off.

Zeng attended the hearing, emerging with her baby from the courthouse visibly upset before being whisked away in a police vehicle.

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