BEIJING — Zhao Yan, the New York Times researcher imprisoned after the newspaper published an exclusive article about the Chinese leadership, was released Saturday into the arms of friends and family after three years in jail.
Zhao, who was detained in a Shanghai restaurant Sept. 17, 2004, and placed under formal arrest three days later, initially was charged with revealing state secrets, which carries a 10-year sentence.
He was acquitted in August 2006 but convicted of an unrelated fraud charge that had been added when he was in custody, and was sentenced to three years. Because he already had been in jail for nearly two years, his sentence ran until today.
The Communist government refused to release Zhao early despite calls for clemency by President Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other top U.S. officials and international rights groups.
"These three years I have missed my family very much, especially my maternal grandmother, who is now more than 100 years old," Zhao said in a written statement shortly after his early-morning release. "For that reason I want some time to reunite with my family."
Zhao was convicted of taking $2,500 in return for a promise to use his connections to get a man's 18-month sentence in a labor camp reduced, according to state media. He said he had not taken the money.
Human rights groups say China has a history of using vague and overly broad charges for political purposes. The courts are ultimately answerable to the Communist Party.
"Politics had a big impact on this case," Guan Anping, Zhao's lawyer, said in a telephone interview, adding that an appeal was being considered. "Zhao Yan was wrongfully accused."
Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog group, termed Zhao a scapegoat. Shortly before Zhao's detention, The New York Times published an exclusive report that former President Jiang Zemin, then serving as military chief, planned to retire. China makes most leadership decisions in secret and officials reportedly were livid about the leak.
Zhao's case has coincided with what critics say has been a tightening by President Hu Jintao's administration on domestic media, civic organizations, social activists and other groups who might pose even a slight political threat -- even as it tries to narrow the rich-poor gap, fight corruption and reaffirm the Communist Party's legitimacy.
