Hu Jia: Another Birthday in Jail

Today is Hu Jia’s 36th birthday.  He is spending it in his cell in the Beijing municipal prison.  His wife Zeng Jinyan and their daughter were granted a visit on 21 July 2009.  Ms Zeng posted this poem on her blog afterwards:

Each day I save up a minute, so that each month we can meet for 30 minutes.

A glass panel several centimetres in thickness separates us: I am on this side. He is on the other side.

I stretch my hands as close to the glass as I can, and yet I cannot feel the warmth on his slender face.

He is calm, and occasionally smiles.

I give him a birthday wish ahead of time.

He reminds me that he has to spend another birthday in jail.

When we depart, he turns around and says, “I love you.”

That invites a chuckle from the prison guard.

On the way home, I find Beijing under a shroud of fog. Overcome by a lingering sense of melancholy,

I start to wonder if what happens this Tuesday afternoon is, after all, just another dream.

Hu was arrested on 27 December 2007 on a charge of "inciting subversion of state authority”.  He was tried and found guilty on 18 March 2008 for posting information about matters of state on websites based abroad. The court sentenced him on 3 April 2008 to three and a half years in prison. 

Reporters Without Borders reiterates its call for Hu Jia’s release: Hu has already spent 20 months in prison in very trying conditions.  It is shocking to see how a man whose only crime was to write articles and give interviews is being kept in prison by certain stubborn officials. The government should demonstrate a desire to improve respect for free expression by freeing Hu and his colleagues, Liu Xiaobo and Huang Qi.

You can sign a petition for Hu’s release HERE.

The Australian: On Liu Xiaobo

Today’s The Australian published Liu Xiaobo’s last interview with foreign press shortly before his arrest:

www.pen.org

China’s most famous dissident, the courtly, professorial Liu Xiaobo, 53, was taken by security officers from his home in Beijing last December and held incommunicado for six months, mostly in a room without windows at a secret location.

Last week he was shifted to a detention centre and charged with inciting subversion of state power, the crime for which other dissidents, such as activist Hu Jia, also have been sentenced. For those found guilty, the maximum penalty is 15 years.

His plight was highlighted by the Australian government at its annual human rights dialogue with China and, since his formal arrest, Australia has joined the EU, the US and other nations in risking Beijing’s wrath by calling for his release.

Liu’s last interview before his arrest was with The Australian. “No matter how rich a society is, as long as it is ruled by a privileged class (that) gains its wealth from an unbalanced and opaque system, there will be strong discontent,” he said.

“And any defence of this group’s economic interests will evolve into a defence of its political rights.”

Please follow this LINK to the full report.

UPDATE

Radio Free Asia confirms that Liu Xiaobo’s bail application has  been formally refused by the Beijing Security Bureau.

Zeng Jinyan’s Visit to Hu Jia Obstructed

Zeng Jinyan expressed disappointment in her latest blog post that she was once again forbidden to see Hu Jia, even though her mother-in-law was finally allowed to meet with her son last Thursday.  This is the second month in a row that her request for a visit was refused.  Ms Zeng did not mention in her blog post whether the authorities had given her a reason for the refusal.  However, it is generally believed that her visiting right has been denied as a reprisal against Zeng Jinyan’s video broadcast at the Sakharov Price presentation ceremony.

Radio Free Asia attempted without success to contact Zeng Jinyan and Hu Jia’s mother for an interview.  However, the report quoted another source close to the Hu Family, which confirmed that the prison authority had done nothing about changing Hu Jia’s medication.  The results of the latest medical examinations recommend a change of medication, on the ground that Hu Jia’s body has developed resistance to the medicine that he is currently using.  Hu Jia suffers from liver cirrhosis linked to chronic hepatitis B infection.

Zeng Jinyan will take her daughter to Fujian to spend Chinese New Year with her parents.  She will also keep her mobile phone switched on in anticipation of a phone call or a SMS message from Hu Jia in prison.  Ned and I would like to extend our holiday greetings to Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan.  We will remember them in our prayers.

Hu Jia’s wife Zeng Jinyan Sent a Video Message to the Sakharov Prize Award Ceremony

From the European Parliament:

The award of the 2008 Sakharov prize for human rights to jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia took place at midday Wednesday. In his absence his wife gave an emotional and moving video message from under house arrest in Beijing to MEPs today. Zeng Jinyan spoke about her husband’s poor health and his continued fight for human rights. A symbolic empty chair was in the middle of the Chamber for Hu Jia.

This is a link at 了了园 to the Acceptance Speech that Zeng Jinyan has written on behalf of Hu Jia.

You can also find coverage of the awards ceremony in major English language mainstream media such as: AP, AFP, BBC and CBC Canada.

Here is the video message:

European Parliament: Special Ceremony to Honour Hu Jia

From the European Parliament 15-12-2008 – 17:29 :

Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought: 20th anniversary and 2008 winner Chinese political activist Hu Jia

This year’s Sakharov Prize ceremonies in Strasbourg have a dual character. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the award Parliament has invited a number of former winners of the Prize to Strasbourg. However, the winner of the Prize for 2008, Chinese dissident Hu Jia, will be unable to receive his award as he is imprisoned in China. Instead, a special ceremony will be held in Parliament’s Plenary Chamber in his honour.

UPDATE ONE: Zeng Jinyan reminds everyone in her 15 December blogpost that the award ceremony will be broadcast live at Europe/Paris time 12.00noon on Wednesday 17 December 2008.  It would be 7.00pm Beijing time or GMT 11.00am on the same day.  You can follow this link to view the broadcast.

UPDATE TWO: Zeng Jinyan wrote on 17 December that she had been invited for tea again by the State Security.  This time she was interrogated about her signature on Charter 08.  The State Security also informed her of a decision to continue to block visitors from the European Parliament.  A full translation of Ms Zeng’s blogpost can be found at Justrecently’s Beautiful Blog.

Dalai Lama Praised European Parliament for Awarding the Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia

In his recent address to European Lawmakers, His Holiness the Dalai Lama praised the European Parliament for awarding the Sakharov Price to Hu Jia.  The speech was delivered on 4 December 2008 at Brussels as a part of His Holiness’ European Tour.  The European leaders’ warm reception of the Dalai Lama had angered the Chinese Government.  As a result, China cancelled the 1 December 2008 summit with the European Union.  The Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda machine has also stepped up another boycott campaign against French goods.

Hu Jia: Life in Prison

Zeng Jinyan wrote a new post about her visit to Hu Jia last Friday.

Hu Jia had finally received the news about the Sakharov Prize award, even though Zeng Jinyan was given deliberate instructions not to discuss the award with Hu Jia during her visit.

The condition of Hu Jia’s detention seemed to have improved after he was moved to the Beijing Municipal Prison.  He had undergone some health checkups recently.  But neither him nor his family is allowed access to the results of the blood test.  This, understandably, is a cause for concern for his wife.

Check JustRecently’s Beautiful Blog for an English translation of Zeng Jinyan’s latest blogpost.

Zeng Jinyan: a Confession from the Prisoner at Freedom City

Thanks to our friend and regular contributor JR for drawing my attention to an article recently published at Zeng Jinyan’s blog. My translation is based on JR’s English translation at JustRecently’s Beautiful Blog. I am grateful to JR for allowing me to use his translation as a basis for my translation. JR has already done all the hard work; it is much faster for me to do it this way than if I have to start from scratch.  The original title of Ms Zeng’s blog post is “My Confession”.

A Confession from the Prisoner at Freedom City

by Zeng Jinyan

The 22^nd letter from Hu Jia has arrived. But the 19^th and 21^st letters have both been confiscated. Hu Jia finally received the diary that I wrote on behalf of our daughter Baobao, even though two of the pages had been torn off and confiscated. Hu Jia had almost refrained from talking about things that had happened in the prison. He mentioned briefly that he had influenza and a temperature, and therefore could only sit for one examination. During my visits and in our letters, we mostly talked about small details of our everyday lives, including the way in which our child is growing up. As soon as we started to talk about something else, our conversation would be terminated, or our letters confiscated.

About Hu Jia and the Sakharov Prize

I have been observing with great amusement how some bloggers have managed to hijack the news about Hu Jia’s Sakharov Prize award to advance their agenda. Their motives, in both cases, are far from honourable. I am referring to how the two bloggers from TPD and Inside-out China respond to a comment at the Guardian, where Xiao Qiang of China Digital Times has eloquently paid tribute to Hu Jia for his achievement.

It is interesting how jealousy and self-delusion can affect people’s judgement. Here we have a couple of bloggers questioning the decision of the EU for choosing Hu Jia as the Prize recipient. I am wondering whether they would have made the same “insightful” and “critical” comments, should the Guardian have solicited their opinion in the first instance.

Let us return to the question about whether Hu Jia deserves to be awarded the Prize. My answer is an unequivocal YES.

Horton Hears Hu Jia

Our cartoon parable for today is Dr Seuss’ “Horton Hears A Who”.  

Dramatis Personae:

Horton the Elephant and Old Doc Hoovey =  Hu Jia and other Chinese prisoners of conscience.

The Wickersham Brothers = China’s Central Propaganda Department.   They appear at 2:20 in part two.

Each clip is around 8 minutes long, part 1, part 2, part 3.