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China dissident has prison visits cancelled after EU award: wife
Beijing (AFP) Dec 18, 2008 China has banned jailed dissident Hu Jia from receiving family visitors as punishment for winning the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov human rights prize, his wife said on Thursday. Zeng Jinyan told AFP that authorities informed her on Thursday she would not be allowed her monthly visit to Hu, a day after the European Parliament awarded him the prize in absentia. She said police also warned her not to talk with foreign journalists. "The political police asked the prison to cancel our visit to Hu Jia, that is a punishment," Zeng said in a webchat with AFP from her Beijing home that she carried out in defiance of the warnings. "No one in the family has seen Hu Jia this month. I don't know when I will be allowed to see him." Hu, 35, has won fame for his campaigning work for civil rights, the environment and the plight of China's marginalised AIDS sufferers. But in April he was jailed for three-and-a-half years on a charge of inciting subversion, a vague charge critics say is used to silence dissenters. He was initially arrested last year after giving testimony on human rights in China to the European Parliament's human rights sub-committee by video-conference. Just before he was announced as the winner in October, China warned in a letter to senior lawmakers and the president of the parliament that giving the Sakharov Prize to Hu could damage ties with Europe. China has insisted that Hu is a criminal who does not deserve any kind of prize. "We have repeated our position on the decision of the European Parliament. I believe the European Parliament is quite aware of our position," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Thursday when asked about the prize. In a video message broadcast to the parliament's chamber on Wednesday, Zeng said she wanted to use the the 50,000-euro (70,480-dollar) prize money to help families of other jailed activists in China. And she continued to sound a note of defiance on Thursday. "I hope people in China will continue to fight... but right now there is not a lot to be optimistic about," she said to AFP in the webchat. Related Links Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com
China dismisses EU concern over activist arrests: state media
Beijing (AFP) Dec 17, 2008China Wednesday dismissed EU concerns over the recent arrest of rights campaigners including leading activist Liu Xiaobo, state media reported. |
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