After spending over four months in detention, Beijing-based blogger Hu Jia was sentenced today to 3.5 years in prison for “state subversion,” which, according to his lawyer Li Fangping, is “a decision that is likely to draw more international criticism of the country's political controls ahead of the Beijing Olympics.”
No kidding.
Enjoy your Olympics, Beijing, but spare us your whining. You did ask for it, after all.
Hu has ten days in which to file an appeal. For more on the different ways bloggers have shown Hu and his wife Zeng Jinyan their support, please see here.
Written byJohn Kennedy
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8 comments
Fuck that. He has been house arrested for about 4 years, now another 4 years, and what?
FUCK CNN!!!
The lettets “cnn” stand for the Chinese phrase “CaoNiNiang” which means fucking your mother in English!!!
CNN CaoNiNiang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What a sad day. We’re all with him. Hu Jia is a martyr for freedom and justice.
We deserve an explanation from the IOC: Why is Hu Jia in prison because of the Olympics?
At one time I respected and appreciated the Olympics, and took enjoyment in talking with the sponsored athlete at my place of employment during college (Home Depot). I was also amazed at how the Olympics could be used as a tool to persuade countries to take the ‘big leap’ out of authoritarian systems into democratic ones; democratization of the South Korean government in 1988 is an example. Taiwan also shifted into a democracy the same year, partly influenced by the Olympics.
But alas, after the (1) selection of a Chinese city by the Olympic committee, and after (2) their commitment to China following the repeated publication of obvious and horrific human rights violations, which are and were directly related to the Olympics, I began to rethink the Olympics as a responsible organization. And my conclusion: it is an organization that lacks of global responsibility.
Reasoning: the only way this kind of the stuff (hateful nationalistic discourse and national policy, ext.) will stop is if the wold’s people demand change — including transnational cooperations and global organizations. The world must change and raise its standards first, then countries like China must make the decision to change or get out of the game. The Olympics is not only not helping, but is acting as a detrimental force, for it is not requiring positive change, and because it is accepting negative change. Have we not progressed as a global citizenry over the last hundred years? I’m disappointed…
please ignore.