BEIJING: An ethnic Mongol dissident who spent almost 20 years behind bars in China has been freed, Beijing said yesterday, as he reportedly accused authorities of torturing him in jail.
Hada became one of China’s longest-serving political prisoners after being sentenced in 1996 for “espionage” and “separatism” when he advocated greater freedoms for China’s six million Mongols.
He was not released when his 15-year jail term ended.
Authorities said he also had to serve a separate four-year sentence for “deprivation of political rights,” a loose phrase often used as a justification to extend detentions.
“The punishment of four years of deprivation of political rights imposed on Hada finished on December 9,” foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing.
AFP
