Internet dissident freed from jail in China
Cai Lujun completes three-year sentence for incitement to subversion
Follow @infoworldCai Lujun, a former businessman and Internet dissident, was released from a Chinese prison on March 3, after completing a three-year sentence for incitement to subversion, Reporters Without Borders, a media advocacy group, said Tuesday.
Cai was imprisoned in Shijiazhuang, China, in March 2003 for posting online a series of articles that were critical of the Chinese government and called for democratic reforms. During a closed trial held in October 2003, Cai was sentenced to three years in prison.
At the time of Cai's arrest in 2003, Reporters Without Borders called for leniency in his case, saying Cai was just voicing his opinions online.
The charges brought against Cai stemmed from four articles -- entitled "Towards Chinese democracy," "These wretched second-class citizens," "The present political monopoly and its weaknesses" and "Guidelines for rebuilding and leading the country" -- that he authored and posted on a foreign Web site, Reporters Without Borders said.
