After Beijing human rights advocate Hu Jia exposed his phone conversation with attorney Gao Zhisheng to the world on April 6, Hu then began to fight for Gao and his family’s freedom. Four days later Hu was again put under house arrest and his phone line was cut off.
In the interview with The Epoch Times on April 16, Hu said, “My last house arrest was 214 days long and the last time the national security police were permanently stationed in my apartment building, while this time they are keeping a little distance and are in the guardroom outside.”
Hu believes the house arrest this time is to stop him from taking any further actions to help Gao Zhisheng.
Hu said, “Since Gao’s phone call on April 6, I feel I need to work hard to help Gao and his family in this real difficult situation; its also a matter of Gao’s’ livelihood too. I contacted foreign embassies, overseas media, and human rights organizations, etc. I believe the police had tapped my telephone. I had an appointment with an official from one of the European embassies on April 10 to discuss matters regarding the rescue of Gao and his family, but in the early morning that day, four plainclothes policemen came over.”
Now Hu’s wife Zeng Jinyan is pregnant. Hu said, “Although house arrest does not affect me much, it does affect my wife a lot. She is in the second month of pregnancy now, and needs a quiet environment to maintain a peaceful mind. As soon as she steps out of the house, she is confronted with a bunch of hostile police so you can imagine how she feels.”
According to Hu, Zeng has had intense verbal confrontations with the police twice. On April 12, Hu and his wife went downstairs for a walk, but they were stopped by the police. In order to protect his wife, Hu ended up having a physical altercation with the police.
Hu said, “From the telephone conversation I had with Gao on April 6, I could tell that Gao had been trying to contact me. I feel it is my duty to inform the public, domestic and overseas, about his torment, and to clarify the truth about the communist regime’s lies about him.”
Gao’s recent letter has now been made public and has attracted international exposure. Hu believes Gao had no choice but to do this. Hu believes that there are two possible outcomes: one is Gao will go to prison again and his wife and children will continue to be humiliated and treated with brutal force, and two is Gao’s circumstances will be much improved. The communist regime are unable to tolerate any international pressure especially in the lead up to the 2008 Olympics, so it may compromise by removing the surveillance and tracking of Gao for now.
Hu said “I am cautiously optimistic. The communist regime is unscrupulous. In the entire process of how they have treated Gao and his family, the communist regime exhausted all corrupt means. Every step in the legal procedure was unlawful; and anyone with a conscience would not be able to tolerate this. Gao’s predicament will only be improved by constant international pressure.”
Hu emphasized that, once he regains his freedom, the first thing that he will do is visit Gao and continue to reveal Gao’s persecution and his current status to the outside world.
