Prominent Chinese Human Rights Activist Imprisoned

[onedomino]

The totalitarians running the show in China, the guys with the most guns, have jailed for a term of three and one-half years, one of the country's most prominent human rights activists. Political rights in China have not advanced an inch since the PLA shot down democracy protesters at Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Concern for Jailed China Activist

complete BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7329839.stm

The decision by a Chinese court to jail a prominent human rights activist has sparked criticism from Western leaders and rights groups.

Hu Jia, 34, was jailed for three and a half years on Thursday for subversion.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it "deeply disturbing", while UK counterpart David Miliband said it was "a most concerning development".

Amnesty International called it "a warning" to Chinese activists who raised human rights concerns publicly.

Earlier this week, the rights group accused China of a "wave of repression" against activists and dissidents ahead of the Beijing Olympic Games...

...Hu Jia has become one of China's most outspoken activists, tackling issues including religious and political freedom, HIV/Aids and the environment.

He was detained late last year, after weeks of house arrest, and convicted on Thursday of "inciting subversion of state power and the socialist system".

His lawyer said that charges related to interviews he gave to foreign media and political articles that he wrote for the internet.

For a sample of Hu's writing, see this Washington Post link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy.../04/04/AR2008040402982.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

 

[Swamp Fox]

I'm not surprised by this, except for the fact that they let him write anything at all. The Chinses government is a dictatorship and therefore makes its living off of keeping the people quiet.

 

[akiboy]

I wish all the world leader''s do what Carter did in 1980..BOYCOTT THE DAMN OLYMPICS!!!! Atleast Sarkozy is seriously considering to boycott the opening ceremony!!

China seriously needs to get its act straight...

 

[BrianH]

I wish all the world leader''s do what Carter did in 1980..BOYCOTT THE DAMN OLYMPICS!!!! Atleast Sarkozy is seriously considering to boycott the opening ceremony!!

China seriously needs to get its act straight...

While I agree, our gov. is too afraid to. We boycott China, and there goes 3/4 of your appliances, gadgets, tools, games, etc....(you get the drift) We're between a rock and a hard place. We've become hostages of foreign nations. We can't boycott oil cause it'll piss off the people we're buying from, destabalizing the ME. We can't boycott China cause they make an ass-load of our goods. I would hope that we could, but the pollies up North won't do it. The bad thing, is that the American people can boycott all they want, but it really won't solve anything. IMO

 

[akiboy]

While I agree, our gov. is too afraid to. We boycott China, and there goes 3/4 of your appliances, gadgets, tools, games, etc....(you get the drift) We're between a rock and a hard place. We've become hostages of foreign nations. We can't boycott oil cause it'll piss off the people we're buying from, destabalizing the ME. We can't boycott China cause they make an ass-load of our goods. I would hope that we could, but the pollies up North won't do it. The bad thing, is that the American people can boycott all they want, but it really won't solve anything. IMO

I agree..It is disturbing that America is so dependant on China.
And the most irritating part is that China knows this!