Chinese dissident awarded prize

STRASBOURG, France, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Jailed Chinese dissident Hu Jia was awarded the European Parliament's top human rights award Wednesday.

The human rights activist and political dissident has been active on environmental issues, HIV and AIDS prevention. He has also called for an official inquiry into the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, the EU Observer reported Thursday.

"In 1988, one of our first prize winners, Nelson Mandela, was in jail. In 1988, there was also an empty chair for Andrei Sakharov. Here today, there is an empty chair for Hu Jia," European Union Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering said during the ceremony Wednesday.

Zeng Jinyan is currently under house arrest. He spoke to officials in Strasbourg, France, via a video message, the newspaper reported.

"Perhaps the European Parliament was thinking of the work I did in the areas of AIDS and the environment because what I did in terms of human rights was very far from sufficient and I will need to redouble my efforts," he said.