A controversial Hong Kong-based publisher and writer has been released from prison after serving a 10-year sentence in a south China prison. He was released on Sunday, February 26.
Yao Wentian was arrested in October 2013 while preparing to release an unauthorized biography of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, reported KaoSod.
The 83 year old publisher was repeatedly denied appeals for medical release filed by Dui Hua, a respected San Francisco-based rights monitoring group.
Yao was sentenced to 10 years and fined for “smuggling common goods” after he brought construction materials into China to help a friend who was refurbishing his apartment. He was accused of failing to declare the value of the goods at customs, not normally a crime punished with such a harsh sentence.
Yao’s publishing of sensitive books was “almost certainly the reason for his imprisonment,” Dui Hua said.
…
