Wall Street Journal - April 3, 2008
Sky Canaves, sky.canaves@wsj.com and Geoffrey A. Fowler, geoffrey.fowler@wsj.com

The high-profile verdict heightens concerns among human-rights activists that the Beijing Olympics, instead of improving China's rights record, may actually be intensifying a crackdown on dissent.

Mr. Hu's sentencing came as the International Olympic Committee was meeting in Beijing to finish its final checks of the city's Games preparations.

China has a long tradition of stifling dissent, but Beijing itself promised human-rights improvements for the Games. In the city's 2001 pitch, Liu Jingmin, then deputy mayor, said "by applying for the Olympics, we want to promote not just the city's development, but the development of society, including democracy and human rights."

During a new conference on Thursday, Hein Verbruggen, head of the IOC inspection team to Beijing, delivered a speech articulating the IOC's stance. "We are not a political organization, I am not afraid to tell you. We should not speak out on political issues," he said. Mr. Hu's case is "a matter of Chinese law," he said, adding that there should be a "thick fat red line" between sports and politics.

The U.S. government said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had pressed for Mr. Hu's release when she visited China in February, and it condemned Mr. Hu's conviction on what it called "specious" charges. "In this Olympic year, we urge China to seize the opportunity to put its best face forward and take steps to improve its record on human rights and religious freedom," said Embassy spokeswoman Susan Stevenson.

A variety of human-rights issues, including recent unrest among China's Tibetan and Uighur populations, are leading some foreign governments to voice concerns about the Olympics. Last week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she wouldn't attend the opening ceremony of the Games.

Amnesty International and other rights groups point to a series of recent detentions as evidence of an increased crackdown on those critical of the government and the Games. On March 24, activist Yang Chunlin, who last year circulated a petition that declared, "We want human rights, not the Olympics," was sentenced to a five-year term on subversion charges. In February, Teng Biao, a rights lawyer and a friend of Mr. Hu, was detained by police for two days and released with a warning to stop writing articles linking China's human-rights record with the Olympics.

The Chinese government flatly denied the assertion that it was leading a pre-Olympics purge of dissidents. "Those accusations are unacceptable," said Jiang Yu, spokeswoman for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. "Just because we're holding the Olympics does not mean that we shouldn't run our country according to the rule of law. We hope organizations will respect our right to run our country lawfully," she said.

Mr. Hu's case aroused particular attention among human-rights groups because of his role as gatekeeper of information about dissident causes and the crackdown on their exponents. Armed with his Google email account, video camera and secure-connection Skype account, the 34-year-old acted as a citizen-reporter, meticulously documenting instances of harassment, abuse or detention by police.

In April of 2007, Mr. Hu was put under house arrest, but continued to blog and communicate with the outside world. In an interview with Voice of America last year, Mr. Hu said, "I can sit in my flat, wearing pajamas, and fight with them in front of my computer." In November, he testified about China's human-rights record over the Internet to the European Parliament, which had made him a finalist for its Sakharov Prize in human rights.

Mr. Hu had been under house arrest for over 200 days when he was taken from his home in late December by police. A month later, he was formally charged. From prison, he told his lawyers he wasn't being tortured, but had been interrogated dozens of times, for between six and 14 hours each time.

Mr. Hu pleaded not guilty to the charges in a closed-door trial held in the Beijing First Intermediate People's Court on March 18ùfewer than 90 days after his arrest, an usually rapid process for the prosecution of Chinese dissidents. Amnesty International expressed concern that Mr. Hu's lawyers were given less than 30 minutes to present his defense, and were repeatedly interrupted by the judge.

The state-run Xinhua news agency quoted from Thursday's verdict that Mr. Hu had "spread malicious rumors, and committed libel in an attempt to subvert the state's political power and socialist system" in two online articles titled "China Political Law-enforcement Organs Create Large-scale Horror Ahead of CPC National Congress," and "One Country Doesn't Need Two Systems."

"It is very difficult to accept this outcome," said Mr. Hu's wife, Zeng Jinyan, who is currently under house arrest, caring for the couple's four-month old baby.

"We believe he is entirely innocent," Mr. Hu's lawyer, Li Fangping, said. "The decision is unacceptable."

Lawyer Mr. Teng said his friend Mr. Hu hadn't committed any crimes. "What he has done is much required in our society," he said. "His behavior should be praised and honored by our people."

###

Mei Fong and Jason Leow contributed to this article.

080403
WJ080403

Copyright © 2008 - The Wall Street Journal. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the WSJ Permissions Desk.

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2008. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 2008. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .