Earlier this year I posted on the frustrating circumstances under which human rights activists Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan dwell.

Their every move shadowed by the authorities, the plucky pair nevertheless continued their protest through the filming and blogging of the Chinese government’s antics.

The harassment exacted upon Zeng Jinyan as she walked down their street made for harrowing viewing, while the enforced home arrest impacted on not only Hu Jia and Zeng Jinyan, but also their baby daughter, Qianci, who may only know life under the wrathful restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities.

Yet their situation has worsened substantially as Hu Jia has been found guilty of “inciting subversion of state power” and criticising the ruling Communist Party.

For these alleged crimes, the Tibet campaigner has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison, a plight rendered all the more dangerous as he suffers from a plethora of illnesses, including an ailing liver.

As China presents to the world the face of a victim and laments the condemnation poured down upon its forthcoming hosting of the Olympics in Beijing, such woes pale in comparison to the unabating censorship and persecution of activists such as Jia and Jinyan.

Last month the Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao avoided mentioning Hu by name when questioned about the case in a news conference last month and denied that Beijing was rounding up government critics ahead of the Olympics.

Instead, he countered that: “China is a country ruled by law, and all these issues will be dealt with in accordance with law. As far as the critics’ view that China is trying to arrest dissidents before the Olympics, there is no such issue at all.”

From tomorrow, Hu has ten days to decide whether to appeal, but his defence lawyer, Li Jinsong, said he was unlikely to do so.

According to the Xinhua news agency – the only agency admitted to the proceedings – the court heard that from August 2006 to October 2007, Hu published articles on overseas-run websites, made comments in interviews with foreign media and “repeatedly spread malicious rumours, and committed libel in an attempt to subvert the state’s political power and socialist system.”

It is worth noting at this point that the ‘subverting’ and ‘instigating’ in question mostly concerned the issue of Tibet, AIDS, the environment, and religious freedom.

Nevertheless, China’s feigned blindness to its rigid censorship and human rights abuse is proving as convincing as the Nuke-excuse for the Iraq War.

As Mark Allison of Amnesty International notes: “This verdict is a slap in the face for Hu Jia and a warning to any other activists in China who dare to raise human rights concerns publicly. It also betrays promises made by Chinese officials that human rights would improve in the run-up to the Olympics.”

For further details on petitions and developments in the case of Jia, Reporters sans Frontières has been keeping a log, while Human Rights Watch holds an open petition.