Cyber-dissident Huang Qi free at last

Reporters Without Borders has voiced relief on learning of the release on 4 June 2005 from prison of cyber-dissident Huang Qi on completion of a five-year sentence for creating a "subversive" website. The winner of the Reporters Without Borders 2004 Cyber-Freedom Prize, Huang was arrested on 3 June 2000. He is now confined to his parent's home in a village three hours by train from his own home in the southwestern city of Chengdu. "We are very pleased that Huang Qi has finally been reunited with his family after five years of imprisonment during which he was often mistreated," the press freedom organisation said. "We nonetheless call for the lifting of his house arrest so that he can go and live in his own home, with his wife and child." Reporters Without Borders added: "Huang must urgently undergo a complete medical check, because his health has deteriorated severely as a result of prison conditions. We would finally like to pay tribute to the courage of his wife, Zeng Li, who did not stop fighting for her husband's release all these years." On leaving prison this morning, Huang was sent to his parent's village, Nei Jiang, and was told he could not leave it without the permission of the police. However, he has a worrying stomach ailment, violent headaches and other health problems and he will be unable to get a proper medical examination in the village. His wife and son have temporarily joined him at his parents' home, but they will have to return soon to Chengdu, where his wife works and his child goes to school. He is in such poor health now in part because he had to sleep on the ground for a year and half while and prison, and was often beaten by guards and inmates during his first few months in detention. When police arrived at his home on 3 June 2000 to arrest him, Huang managed to dash off one last e-mail message: "Goodby everyone, the police want to take me away. We have a long road before us. Thank you to all those who have helped democratic development in China." The creator of the website www.tianwang.com, Huang was indicted in January 2001 for "subversion" and "incitement to overthrow the state authority" under articles 103 and 105 of the criminal code. He had to wait until 9 May 2003 to learn that he had been sentenced to five years in prison. His offence was to have posted articles on the June 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre on his website, which was hosted on a server in the United States after being banned in China. A sham trial was held behind closed doors in August 2001. It was preceded by a hearing in February of that year in which Huang fainted in the courtroom. He was weak from interrogation sessions and his prison conditions, he had a scar on his forehead and he had lost a tooth as a result of being hit by his guards. A European diplomat in the courtroom confirmed there were visible signs of torture. His family was not allowed to see him until three years after his arrest. He received the Reporters Without Borders Cyber-Freedom Prize, which is supported by the Fondation de France, in June 2004.