Tiananmen protesters still jailed, decades on

[Vehl]

Twenty-two years after China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests, at least five people remain in jail for joining in the tumult.

For China's ruling Communist Party, the 1989 demonstrations that clogged Tiananmen Square in Beijing and spread to other cities remains a taboo topic. They are all the taboo this year, as the government has launched a campaign to stamp out dissent after the uprisings in several Arab countries.

The anniversary of the suppression of the student-led movement falls on Saturday, and three men who joined in the protests - Jiang Yaqun, 75, Miao Deshun, 48, and Yang Pu, 47 - remain in Beijing's Yanqing prison, where sick inmates are held. Two others - Chang Jingqiang, 43, and Li Yujun, 48, - are being held in another Beijing jail. They were among a million students and workers who had gathered on Beijing's streets in 1989 to join pro-democracy demonstrations that ended before dawn on June 4 when tanks rolled into Tiananmen Square.

More here
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/04/3235521.htm

Today is the 22nd anniversary of the Tienanmen massacre

[gratuitous]

1. The U.S. should speak out about this

Too bad we shot our credibility when it comes to speaking out against incarcerating people without charge or access to counsel, or even summary executions. Kinda puts a damper on your argument when people keep bringing up Guantanamo and Bagram and stuff.

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. We shouldn't bite the hand that feeds.

[Drale]

2. A huge majority of the population has never even heard of the

Tienanmen student protests. The Chinese Government has covered it up so far, and I doubt they will stop anytime soon, so those people are never getting out of prison.