2008 Woodie Awards
Would be China protestors sentenced to hard labor
Mike Jensen (MCT)
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: News
The park around the Temple of the Sun, built four centuries ago for ritual sacrifices to the sun, buzzed with modern activity, including badminton and table tennis. A boy ran around with a toy helicopter. Little kids bounced on a trampoline.
The park was one of three sites in Beijing set aside by the Chinese government for legal protests during the Olympics. The only discontent spotted here one morning this week came from a young boy upset that his mother wouldn't let him keep chasing a butterfly.
There was no protest zone ever set up. The China Daily, an English-language outlet for the Chinese government, had a headline this week: "77 requests, no protests at Games." The newspaper went on to say: "Up to yesterday, 74 applications had been withdrawn after amicable settlement between the parties and authorities."
If anything, the protest application process has made it easier for China to arrest dissidents.
Several Chinese applicants have been detained after applying to protest. Two elderly women, 79 and 77 years old, were ordered to spend a year in a labor camp, a relative told the Associated Press.
Two Philadelphia-area men were also detained, according to family members and Students for a Free Tibet, though there was no indication they had applied for permission to protest.
Brian Conley of Philadelphia and Jeffrey Rae of Wayne, Pa., were still being held Saturday. Rae's father, William, said by phone Saturday that he had spoken with a U.S. embassy officer, who indicated Conley and Rae had been given 10-day sentences. The embassy official said embassy personnel had met with Rae.
"He said he was being treated well and felt OK," William Rae said. The embassy official, William Rae said, told him his son was one of 10 people in a cell, with another American in the group and that Jeff Rae sees Conley at times during the day.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that Chinese police have sentenced at least 10 foreigners to 10 days of detention for protesting during the Olympic Games, according to activists and officials.
The park was one of three sites in Beijing set aside by the Chinese government for legal protests during the Olympics. The only discontent spotted here one morning this week came from a young boy upset that his mother wouldn't let him keep chasing a butterfly.
There was no protest zone ever set up. The China Daily, an English-language outlet for the Chinese government, had a headline this week: "77 requests, no protests at Games." The newspaper went on to say: "Up to yesterday, 74 applications had been withdrawn after amicable settlement between the parties and authorities."
If anything, the protest application process has made it easier for China to arrest dissidents.
Several Chinese applicants have been detained after applying to protest. Two elderly women, 79 and 77 years old, were ordered to spend a year in a labor camp, a relative told the Associated Press.
Two Philadelphia-area men were also detained, according to family members and Students for a Free Tibet, though there was no indication they had applied for permission to protest.
Brian Conley of Philadelphia and Jeffrey Rae of Wayne, Pa., were still being held Saturday. Rae's father, William, said by phone Saturday that he had spoken with a U.S. embassy officer, who indicated Conley and Rae had been given 10-day sentences. The embassy official said embassy personnel had met with Rae.
"He said he was being treated well and felt OK," William Rae said. The embassy official, William Rae said, told him his son was one of 10 people in a cell, with another American in the group and that Jeff Rae sees Conley at times during the day.
The Associated Press reported Saturday that Chinese police have sentenced at least 10 foreigners to 10 days of detention for protesting during the Olympic Games, according to activists and officials.
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