Jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia has awarded Europe's most prestigious human rights honour, the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought – it's a major acknowledgement of his work.

The president of the European Parliament, which grants the award, Hans-Gert Poettering said:

" ... "By awarding the Sakharov Prize to Hu Jia, the European Parliament is sending out a signal of clear support to all those who defend human rights in China," …"

We, at Amnesty International, repeat our call to Chinese authorities to immediately release Hu Jia from prison, and to stop harassing his wife, Zeng Jinyan, and the couple' s 11-month-old daughter.

Jailed for subversion

The 35-year-old, one of China's most well known human rights and environmental activists, was jailed in April this year for subversion. He is serving a sentence of three-and-a-half years.

He was one of the founders of the Beijing-based NGO dedicated to helping children from AIDS families. Together with his wife he regularly informed foreign journalists and human rights organisations of abuses taking place in China.

And the decision to award the prize to Hu Jia hasn't impressed China.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, Liu Jianchao, expressed strong dissatisfaction that such an award had gone to a "jailed criminal", reports Reuters.

" Liu called the award a meddling in China's domestic affairs and a violation of international norms, but he also said it would not overshadow an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) of 43 nations in Beijing that starts Friday …"

Shackled hands and feet

Meanwhile, Reuters writes that Hu Jia's wife said he would be very happy if he knew about the award.

After a prison visit last month, Zeng Jinyan said Hu Jia had his hands and feet shackled and had been held in solitary confinement. " …After this he was subjected to special isolation for nine days … From the time he was first jailed until now, four other prisoners have had the responsibility of being with Hu Jia at all times and reporting on his actions to the authorities …”

The Sakharov Prize, which includes a cheque for 50,000 euros (A$96,539), will be awarded at a ceremony in France on December 17. Hopefully by then, somehow, news of the honour will have reached Hu Jia.

Great personal risks

The award highlights the work of all activists in China who bravely, and often at great personal risk, stand up against human rights abuses.

Earlier this month Hu Jia had been considered a frontrunner for the Nobel Peace Prize, which went to the former president of Finland and peace negotiator Martti Ahtisaari.

The New York Times and the Washington Post have more on the story.

Update

On10 October Hu Jia was relocated from Chao Bai prison to the Beijing City Prison.

Hu Jia's family welcomed this move as he would now be located much closer to their home and would therefore be easier for them to visit. However, whether this will be of any practical benefit remains to be seen. The prison authority rejected the family's request to visit him on 15 October 2008, and refused to tell the family whether they would be allowed to visit him in November.