The ****trait of a Lawless "Olympic Host" -- Chinese dissident gets 31/2
years for essays
--Micky's Humble Opinions: The Chinese tragedy is that those who have
absolute power, and thus corrupted need never to obey the law. --
International Herald Tribune
Chinese dissident gets 31/2 years for essays
By Jim Yardley
Thursday, April 3, 2008
BEIJING: A Chinese court on Thursday sentenced an outspoken human rights
advocate to three and a half years in prison after ruling that his
critical essays and comments about Communist Party rule amounted to
inciting subversion, his lawyer said.
The conviction of Hu Jia, 34, quickly brought outside criticism of China
at a time when the government is already facing international concern
over its handling of the Tibetan crisis. Hu's case has been followed
closely, especially in Europe, and critics say his conviction is part of
a government crackdown to silence dissidents before Beijing plays host
to the Olympics in August.
Diane Sovereign, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing,
described the U.S. government's reaction to the verdict as "dismayed."
"Mr. Hu has consistently worked within China's legal system to protect
the rights of his fellow citizens," Sovereign said. "These types of
activities sup****t China's efforts to institute the rule of law and
should be applauded, not suppressed or punished."
Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, herself a well-known blogger and rights
advocate, was distraught in a telephone interview Thursday.
"I feel hopeless and helpless," said Zeng, who is under house arrest
with the couple's infant daughter in their suburban Beijing apartment,
though she was allowed to visit her husband Thursday.
Asked why Hu was arrested and convicted, Zeng said:
"The fundamental reason is to silence him. He had been speaking up and
all he said was plain truth. It makes them unhappy. But they can do this
to him because they're unhappy?"
Li Fangping, the defense lawyer, said the court showed leniency by
sentencing him to less than the maximum five-year term. Li said the
sentence also forbade Hu from making any public political statements for
one year following his release from prison.
"Three and a half years is still unacceptable to us," Li said outside
the courthouse. "There is a major disagreement between prosecutors and
the defense over puni****ng someone for making peaceful speech. We still
believe the charge does not stand."
Prosecutors in China rarely discuss cases after a verdict. But Xinhua,
the government news agency, re****ted that Hu had confessed to the
charges. "Hu spread malicious rumors and committed libel in an attempt
to subvert the state's political power and socialist system," the court
verdict stated, according to Xinhua.
Hu is one of the most prominent human rights advocates in China and has
volunteered to help AIDS patients and plant trees to fight
desertification. In recent years, he has maintained regular contacts
with dissidents and other advocates on issues including environmental
protection and legal reform. He also has served a one-man clearinghouse
of information about peasant protests and dissidents, subjects that are
often censored in the Chinese media.
He was detained last Dec. 27 and then later charged with "incitement to
subvert state power," a charge based on six essays and interviews in
which he criticized the Communist Party. Hu wrote a long, blistering
essay detailing how the police had tortured two people who had protested
about having their homes illegally seized in Beijing. In that essay, he
also criticized the Communist Party's human rights record. The timing
was also sensitive; Hu posted the essay on his personal blog in advance
of last autumn's 17th Party Congress, a key political meeting in which
the new party leader****p was announced.
In another blog posting, Hu wrote about China's political formulation
known as "one country, two systems" under which Hong Kong is part of
China yet is allowed a more democratic political system. Hu argued that
all of China should be democratic.
Last year, Hu also co-wrote an article that criticized the Communist
Party for failing to fulfill its Olympic promises to improve human
rights before the Beijing Games, though that article apparently was not
included as evidence.
Li said that Hu continues to maintain his innocence, though he has
acknowledged outside the courtroom that some of his comments were
"excessive" in the context of existing law. All of the articles used as
evidence have been censored on China's Internet.
China's subversion laws, like those over state secrets, are deliberately
vague and grant prosecutors considerable leeway in determining
"subversive" speech - even though freedom of speech is included in the
Chinese Constitution.
"The line between 'freedom of speech' and 'endangering state security'
is very ambiguous," Li said. "In the criminal law, the article
concerning subversion of state power contains only 30 words. And neither
lawmakers of the judicial branch have given any further explanation."
The lawyer added that the defense team had tried during the trial to
clarify what constituted free speech, and what did not. "Only in that
way can we protect the freedom of speech from being restrained or
disregarded in the name of state security."
Earlier this year, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised Hu's case
during a meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, Yang Jiechi. The
European Union presidency has criticized the subversion charge and
called for Hu's release. Human rights groups also have called for Hu's
release and condemned his arrest and conviction.
Hu now has 10 days to decide whether to appeal the verdict. His health
is also an issue; he has Hepatitis B and also takes medication for a
deteriorating liver condition. Li said Hu has the option of applying for
medical parole if he chooses not to appeal.
Meanwhile, Zeng, Hu's wife, was anguished. "I'm very disappointed and
very pained," she said. "Yesterday, I thought he could be back home
today."
Howard W. French contributed re****ting from Shanghai. Zhang Jing
contributed research from Beijing.
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