Chinese dissident awarded EU Sakharov prize despite pressureChinese dissident Hu Jia
Hu Jia (Simplified Chinese: 胡佳 won the European Parliament's prestigious Sakharov Prize The Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, named after Soviet scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established in December 1988 by the European Parliament as a means to honour individuals or organizations who had dedicated their lives to the defence of human rights and on Thursday, Greens lawmakers said amid accusations that Beijing had pressured the MEPs not to give it to him. "Awarding the Sakharov to Hu Jia is a reflection of this very spirit of this prize, which supports free thought and honours human rights defenders fighting repression," Greens leaders Daniel Cohn-Bendit Daniel Marc Cohn-Bendit (born Montauban, France, April 4, 1945) is a French-German politician and was a leader of the student protesters during the May 1968 riots in France. and Monica Frassoni Monica Frassoni (born September 10, 1963 in Veracruz, Mexico) is an Italian politician and Member of the European Parliament for the North West of Italy. She is a member of the Italian Green Party, part of the European Greens. said. "The commitments made by China before the Olympic Games Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The Olympics of Ancient Greece Although records cannot verify games earlier than 776 B.C. to improve the human rights situation have not been respected," they added in a statement. Hu is a campaigner for civil rights, environmental protection and AIDS advocacy in China. He was arrested last year after giving testimony on human rights in China to the European Parliaments's human rights subcommittee by phone. He was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in jail for subversion. The Sakharov Prize -- named after Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov -- is in its 20th year. Previous winners, chosen for the their human rights activities, will be invited to attend the award presentation on December 17. It comes with a cash award of 50,000 euros (64,150 dollars). Ahead of the announcement, senior lawmakers accused Chinese government officials of having pressured members of the European Parliament, meeting in Strasbourg, not to award the prize to Hu. "By letter, by email, and they've even tried by telephone," the head of the parliament's liberal group, Graham Watson, told AFP (1) (AppleTalk Filing Protocol) The file sharing protocol used in an AppleTalk network. In order for non-Apple networks to access data in an AppleShare server, their protocols must translate into the AFP language. See file sharing protocol. . A spokesman for the president of the assembly, Hans-Gert Poettering, said that China's ambassador had written him a letter "in which Beijing applies pressure". The spokesman said this sort of pressure was "more counter-productive". "This prize is awarded in Strasbourg, not in Beijing," Poettering himself said, on the sidelines On the sidelines An investor who decides not to invest due to market uncertainty. on the sidelines Of or relating to investors who, having assessed the market, have decided to avoid committing their funds. of the plenary session here. The letter, from Ambassador Song Zhu, read: "I have learned with much regret that the European Parliament has made a decision to put him (Hu) on the shortlist short·list also short-list n. A list of preferable items or candidates that have been selected for final consideration, as in making an award or filling a position. Noun 1. . "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." The head of the conservative grouping in parliament -- the assembly's biggest bloc -- Joseph Daul, had also received a letter from the ambassador, one of his spokesman confirmed. 
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