Chinese prison denies shutting outdoor recreation area after wife of disgraced official Bo Xilai moved into the jail
A prison in northern China, where the wife of the disgraced top government official Bo Xilai is serving a life sentence for murder, has denied a report that sports activities were suspended in an outdoor recreation area at the jail after she was incarcerated there.
The allegation was made in a magazine report about a former goalkeeper with China’s national football team Jiang Jin.
Chinese court commutes death sentence for Bo Xilai’s wife, murderer Gu Kailai
Jiang was held at the same prison as Bo’s wife, Gu Kalai, at Sanhe in Hebei province.
Gu is serving time for the murder of the British businessman Neil Heywood in 2011.
The article also allegedly sheds light on life inside what the media has dubbed “luxury prisons”, housing officials jailed for graft and other offences.
Portrait magazine described Jiang’s life at the prison after he was jailed for 5 ½ years for match fixing.
“Jiang Jin was famous inside the prison, some of his fans would greet him there,” the article said.
“The inmates used to play soccer together and from time to time Jiang was invited to coach them, but the activities on the playground was cancelled after Gu Kailai was transferred to Yancheng,” it said.
Yancheng prison said in a statement that outdoor activities were suspended temporarily between October 2013 and June 2014 for renovation work, but not because anyone was serving time at the jail.
It added that the prison organised other activities during that period and urged the media and public not to “spread rumours”.
Gu was initially given a suspended death sentence in 2012 for poisoning Heywood over a business dispute.
The Beijing Higher People’s Court commuted the sentence to life in prison last year, citing her good behaviour and show of remorse.
Her husband Bo, the former Communist Party chief in Chongqing, was jailed for life in 2013 for corruption and abuse of power.
Hotel-style prison awaits China’s Bo Xilai
The Portrait magazine report also described some of the conditions at the jail in the report on Jiang.
“There were orchards and vegetable fields in the prison. He used to grow cabbages, peaches and apricots. One of his fellow inmates, Nan Yong, former vice president of Chinese Football Association also grew vegetables there,” the report said.
It also alleged that inmates who performed well in a basketball match could earn points to reduce their sentence. Jiang did so in his first year but decided not to continue after that.
