Jailed China activist barred from seeing family on birthday: wife

Yahoo!

Jailed Chinese rights campaigner Hu Jia is in deteriorating health and police have barred relatives from seeing him on his birthday on Friday, the activist’s wife has written on her blog.

Police also prevented AFP reporters on Thursday from visiting his wife, Zeng Jinyan, despite China’s promises to allow foreign journalists freedom to report in the lead up to the Beijing Olympics.

The police action comes amid reports of a steady stream of arrests of dissidents and rights activists in the run-up to next month’s Games.

Zeng, who is confined to their small home in the “Bobo Freedom Village” apartment complex in Beijing with the couple’s nine-month-old baby, wrote on her blog that in a July 9 visit with Hu, he showed possible signs of anaemia.[continues...]