TWO CHINESE SEPTUAGENARIAN WOMEN SENTENCED TO RE-EDUCATION LABOR CAMPS FOR ASKING TO PROTEST
A Chinese Hoosegow
First three paragraphs from an article in today's NY Times:
Two elderly Chinese women have been sentenced to a year of “re-education through labor” after they repeatedly sought a permit to demonstrate in one of the official Olympic protest areas, according to family members and human rights advocates.
The women, Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, had made five visits to the police this month in an effort to get permission to protest what they contended was inadequate compensation for the demolition of their homes in Beijing.
During their final visit on Monday, public security officials informed them that they had been given administrative sentences for “disturbing the public order,” according to Li Xuehui, Ms. Wu’s son.
Those two elderly women weren't even protesting; they were asking to protest. And now they'll be doing twelve months of physical labor, with no access to counsel, no right to a hearing, no right of habeas corpus, and no other form of due process.
That Gray Lady article further reveals that authorities have not approved any of the 77 protest applications it received, despite setting up official protest zones.
Those of you who said that Beijing's hosting of the Olympics would lead to the expansion of fundamental democratic rights in China -- at least during the Olympics -- can admit that you were wrong now.
<< Home