Chinese Human Rights Activitist Wins Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
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One of China's most prominent human rights activists, Hu Jia, has won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.
Mr Hu, a democracy, environment and Aids activist, is serving a jail term for inciting subversion of state power.
The parliament's president said Mr Hu was "one of the real defenders of human rights" in China, and that the award would support Chinese activists.
Mr Hu is credited with chronicling instances of abuse and alerting both fellow Chinese human rights activists and foreign news organisations.
He was convicted last April of inciting subversion, and is now serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, is under effective house arrest.
In a letter sent to the president of EU assembly earlier this week, China's ambassador to the EU, Song Zhe, said giving the award to Mr Hu would "inevitably hurt the Chinese people once again and bring serious damage to China-EU relations".
"Not recognising China's progress on human rights and insisting on confrontation will only deepen the misunderstanding between the two sides and is not conducive to the promotion of the cause of world human rights," he said.
Mr Hu was also tipped as a possible winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year, prompting Beijing to issue a veiled warning that the prize should go to the "right person".
Mr Hu, a democracy, environment and Aids activist, is serving a jail term for inciting subversion of state power.
The parliament's president said Mr Hu was "one of the real defenders of human rights" in China, and that the award would support Chinese activists.
Mr Hu is credited with chronicling instances of abuse and alerting both fellow Chinese human rights activists and foreign news organisations.
He was convicted last April of inciting subversion, and is now serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence. His wife, Zeng Jinyan, is under effective house arrest.
In a letter sent to the president of EU assembly earlier this week, China's ambassador to the EU, Song Zhe, said giving the award to Mr Hu would "inevitably hurt the Chinese people once again and bring serious damage to China-EU relations".
"Not recognising China's progress on human rights and insisting on confrontation will only deepen the misunderstanding between the two sides and is not conducive to the promotion of the cause of world human rights," he said.
Mr Hu was also tipped as a possible winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year, prompting Beijing to issue a veiled warning that the prize should go to the "right person".
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