Zeng Jinyan, wife of imprisoned Chinese AIDS rights activist Hu Jia, is currently under the surveillance of Chinese authorities and unable to contact outside media. It is believed that authorities may have also transported Zeng out of Beijing during the Olympics.
On August 25, Boxun.net reported that authorities took Zeng Jinyan to Dalian City after she visited her husband at the Chaobai prison near Tianjin City on August 7. Zeng was not allowed to return to Beijing until August 23. According to Hu Jia’s mother, Feng Juan, Zeng is under surveillance and unable to accept interviews.
Feng Juan told Radio Free Asia that Zeng was not in Beijing during the Olympics, but she did not know the details of her whereabouts at that time. Regarding the details of Zeng’s current situation, Feng said, “We live in mainland China, so it is not convenient for us to talk about these things.”
Hu was sentenced to three and half years imprisonment in March. His family is allowed one visit a month, but authorities forbid the family from bringing him food and medicine. Feng said, “He still looks very thin…the prison doesn’t allow us to send [him] medicine. The medicine from the prison hospital doesn’t include antiviral agents.”
Feng also said that the prison officials screen all incoming letters and only deliver the letters that meet their guidelines to the prisoners. When Zeng sent Hu a copy of International Convention on Human Rights and Protection of Chinese Prisoners’ Human Rights, the book was confiscated by prison officials and returned to the family.
Boxun.net also reports that the spokesperson from Chaobai prison’s public relations office said that Hu recently caused trouble by objecting to the prison’s decision to put some inmates on trial. Hu believed the officials’ actions violated prisoner rights. He publicized his criticism to the prison staff and other prisoners. As a result, the prison ordered Hu to seven hours of daytime yard work every day as punishment.
According to an open letter written by Zeng, Hu usually writes letters to his family once a week. However, no one has received a letter from him since August 1.
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