Europe Awards Jailed Chinese Dissident
European Union grants peace prize to dissident despite warnings from Beijing.
BEIJING, Oct 23, 2008— -- Hu Jia, the most prominent human rights dissident in China, was today awarded the Sakharov prize, the European Union's highest human rights honor, much to the dismay of the Chinese government.
Hu is the most prominent human rights dissident in China. So it is not a coincidence that he sits in jail serving a 3½ year term for "inciting state subversion."
The foreign affairs spokesman for the European Parliament said the award, which is given annually to a person or group for achievements in human rights or for promotion of democracy, highlights the "authoritarian and repressive nature of the communist government in China."
Hu is currently in a high-security jail in Beijing. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, also an activist, can visit him only when prison officials allow it. She lives under house arrest with their infant daughter, and reporters are prevented from visiting their home by guards who block the entrance to the apartment building. But we reached Zeng Jinyan by phone while she was out of the house.
"I am not sure if they are following me now," she told ABC News, "but I think maybe they are."
She said she is happy to hear about the award but is more concerned with Hu's health. " I think Hu Jia will be happy if he hears about it," she said. I hope he can come home soon." Hu has liver disease, and he told his wife he recently received a health check in prison but hasn't yet received the results.
Hu is a bold dissident who has written and fought about the arrests and harassment of other activists. His activism spans a wide range of issues, from HIV/AIDS, land rights, freedom of speech and religion. He made a documentary about what it was like to live under house arrest in China.
In November 2007, when Hu was still under house arrest, he testified via webcam to the European Parliament about human rights abuses in China. Days later he was arrested. He was convicted last April, a few months before the start of the Beijing Olympics.
Chinese domestic media has remained virtually silent on Hu Jia's case except for state-run wire service reports when Hu's prison sentence was announced. But Hu is well-known in human rights communities around the world, and foreign journalists have followed his case closely.
The Chinese government speaks about Hu only when asked about him during regularly scheduled foreign ministry press conferences. It says Hu's case is a "domestic issue" and has strongly condemned his nomination for this and other human rights awards. Hu Jia was also reportedly a top contender for the Nobel Peace Prize, which he did not win.
It is highly unlikely that any state-run media will report that he has now been honored with the Sakharov prize.
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