Dissident wins human-rights award

Hu Jia, a 35-year-old jailed Chinese dissident and advocate for environmental and HIV/AIDS causes was announced the winner of the Sakharov Prize, a human-rights award given by the European Parliament, the Wall Street Journal reported. Hu, who was also considered one of the main contenders for the Nobel Peace Prize this year, had used the internet to report and distribute information about alleged abuses in China leading up to the Olympics. In April, he was handed a 3.5-year prison sentence for "inciting subversion against the state." The award was given to Hu despite warnings from Beijing that it would consider it an affront and an interference in its internal affairs. The awarding could lead to tense meetings between Chinese and European leaders, who will hold a two-day meeting in Beijing on the global economic crisis beginning today.