Beijing Prisons Get Ready for the Olympics
Thu, 08/09/2007 - 17:09 — LD
As part of China＇s celebration of the one-year countdown to the Olympics, the Beijing Prison Administration launched a two-week celebration campaign in all the prisons under its jurisdiction. Inmates are reportedly pledging good behavior to support the government for a flawless Olympics.
According to an August 8, 2007, article in Legal Daily, "At a ceremony, over a hundred inmates at the Tianhe Prison signed their names on a hundred meter long scroll and took a vow, ‘We will be good hosts by serving our prison term in a civilized manner and by new behavior. We will win glory for our motherland and the Olympics.＇" [1]
"According to sources, the Olympics-theme campaign will be unfolded throughout the prisons in Beijing. In the next two weeks or so, cultural activities in the prisons will be invigorated through various kinds of educational activities such as speech contests for inmates, art and crafts shows, performances and sports competitions to cheer for the Olympics."
Tianhe Prison, Post Box 1290-1, Daxing District, Beijing, provides an example of some prominent religious and pro-democracy activists who have been imprisoned.
Pastor Cai Zhuohua, a prominent Beijing house church leader, is currently serving his three year sentence in Tianhe Prison for charges relating to ‘illegal business practices.’ The authorities found more than 200,000 copies of printed Christian literature including Bibles in a storage room that Cai manages. According to sources Pastor Cai Zhuohua has been forced to work more than 10 hours a day making handbags. Since January 23, 2006, none of his relatives has been allowed to visit him. [2]
Yang Jianli, a pro-democracy activist, served his sentence in Tianhe Prison for “espionage and crossing the national border illegally.” A research fellow at Harvard Kennedy School of Government, he had been active in the movement to promote democracy in China. On May 13, 2002, the Beijing Intermediate People＇s Court sentenced him to 5 years in prison and 1 year deprivation of his political rights. He was released in April 2007. [3]
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