Beijing - Two Beijing grandmothers remained defiant and in good spirits on Friday despite being sentenced to one year of reeducation through labour for applying to protest during the Olympics.
In an interview, neighbours Wu Dianyuan, 79, and Wang Xiuying, 77, said they had not received compensation after their homes were demolished by the city government seven years ago and were simply fighting for their rights.
"We have done nothing wrong," said Wang.
"They won't let me protest, then they sentence me to a year labour camp. I am really mad.
"But we are not afraid. We will go on protesting, you can see this is not fair, do you understand that?"
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The re-education orders seen by AFP said that Wang and Wu will be allowed to serve their sentences at home, but will be sent to a labour camp if they cause further trouble.
Wang and Wu were seated together in a ramshackle one-room apartment without electricity in which Wu now lives after her home in central Beijing was demolished to make way for a development.
The two said they had applied five times to stage protests at official Olympic protest zones set up by the government.
"We will keep on protesting," vowed Wang.
Ahead of the Olympics, the government said the three protests areas in city parks would be available for demonstrations. But it admitted this week that not one of more than 70 applications to protest had been approved.
Wang, who lives across a narrow unpaved lane from Wu in a similar one-room apartment in a downtrodden southeastern Beijing suburb, said they were delighted when they heard that protests would be permitted during the Olympics.
But instead of getting approval for their protest, they were both slapped with the one-year sentences of re-education through labour for disturbing public order.
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