Chinese soldiers march holding the country's flag. - File photo image:32740:1::0

Two elderly women, one 77-years-old and one 79-years-old, were sentenced to a year in a Chinese labour camp after submitting an application to protest during the Olympic games at one of Beijing's three designated areas. They were protesting being evicted from their home back in 2001, according to a sacbee.com news story.

The elderly women, one of which suffers fairly bad health, received no word from the Municipal Security Administration Unit regarding their initial application in Beijing so they stayed on the application process. Their persistence got them a "backdated" sentence, beginning July 30th even though they hadn't submitted the application until August 5th.

And the sentence charges? Disturbing public order.

Even after being handed the sentence, the persistent little old women went back to check on the application but this time they were told their application was DENIED. As explained by the sacbee article:

On Sunday, Beijing officials handed the two women year-long sentences beginning this past July 30 for "disturbing the public order," Li said. When the two women went back a fifth time Monday to apply for a protest permit, city officials denied their application, saying they were ineligible because of the re-education labor sentence.

Police in China do not need a court order to sentence citizens to the labour camps and can administer the sentences for up to four years.

According to a Beijing security administration in the media, there were 77 applications submitted to protest in the designated protest areas. 74 were withdrawn on the basis they could be resolved with the help of the Chinese government because as Wang Wei, executive vice president of the Beijing Olympics organizing committee said in the report "This is the way we like to deal with things in Chinese culture. Chinese culture always emphasizes harmony."

Of the 3 remaining applications, they were either suspended or rejected.

None of the 77 applications to hold protests during the Olympic games were approved.

IOC officials were somewhat perplexed as to the lack of approvals since it did promise both media freedom and protest at the specified parks. The IOC also attempted to discuss the elderly women with the Chinese game organizers but were told that it was "a matter Chinese law."

Chinese labour camps are said to use labour as a means of "re-education", but many call them torture camps, implementing beatings and using cattle prods on those kept in them for offenses such as those who petition the Chinese government.