Hu Jia Update: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose

Lawyers for jailed dissident Hu Jia (see many past references, most recently this on his sentence) went in on Monday to try and see their client and ask whether he wanted to appeal the three and a half year prison sentence he received April 2nd for inciting subversion of state power. But when they got there, the detention center told the lawyers that Hu was not available because he was going through a routine physical check up before moving to the prison where he would serve his sentence.

They went back yesterday afternoon, says one of his lawyers, Li Fangping, but were again refused permission to see him, this time because they hadn't seen him the day before. "The detention center told us that we had already missed the deadline for appeal, and as Hu's first trial defense lawyers, we couldn't meet him now." In other words because they had missed the deadline and Hu hadn't appealed, they were no longer his lawyers.

The lawyers actually have obtained a signed power of attorney from Hu's family to represent him in any appeal trial, but the detention center would not accept that. "We explained that we are authorized to represent him if he is to appeal, but the officials told us that then we can just wait to hear from the court of appeal, which is the Beijing high court in this case."

"Now no one even knows whether Hu Jia had requested an appeal. The officials just would not say. We don't even know about his health condition. They didn't tell us the result of his physical examination. We are completely shut out of the case now." If Hu himself has requested an appeal, the lawyers might "hear from the court in 20 days." Meanwhile, Li said their only option was to "keep trying to contact the court authorities to find about about Hu."