Chinese activist released

2004-03-04 15:47

Beijing - A longtime Chinese activist who helped lead the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests was released from prison on medical parole on Thursday and left immediately for the United States, a longtime human rights activist said.

Wang Youcai left the Zhejiang No 1 prison in Hangzhou, in southern China early on Thursday, said goodbye to his family and boarded a plane for San Francisco, according to John Kamm, executive director of the Duihua Foundation, a rights group.

Wang, 37, one of the founders of the China Democracy Party, was sentenced to 11 years in prison in 1998.

He was also one of the student leaders of the 1989 demonstrations that led to the military crackdown on Tiananmen Square democracy protesters in which hundreds, perhaps thousands, died. He served a year in prison on charges related to those activities.

Wang's case had been publicly identified as a priority by US Ambassador Clark T Randt.

"Clearly, I think, they have been releasing and giving sentence reductions to people who are considered priority cases by the United States," Kamm said. "It's part of an overall effort to get the human rights dialogue back on track."

- AP