Just why did Chinese officials sentence two elderly women, who wanted to use the Olympic protest parks, to a year in a labour camp? A former China correspondent for The Washington Post, John Pomfret, has his own answers.

Wu Dianyuan and Wang Xiuying have been ordered to serve one year in a 'Re-education Through Labour' centre, after repeatedly applying to use one of the three special Olympic protest zones. The women used to be neighbours until they were forcibly evicted from their homes - one is 79 and the other is 77.

No one has yet been granted permission to use any of three protest zones – despite the fact there had been 77 applications.

John Pomfret, an author and blogger, writes:

" Now, China enthusiasts will argue that, there must be a mistake, or this was obviously the action of a thuggish cop who must have gone too far, or perhaps it's the fault of a dreaded "conservative faction" of the party in the parlance of Chinese political tea-leaf readers. I'd say, however, the grandma case is completely consistent with CCP standard operating procedure; it's not an anomaly. Here's why … "

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