This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/6996128.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| China frees NY Times researcher | China frees NY Times researcher |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| A Chinese journalist working for the New York Times has been freed after almost three years in jail in China. | A Chinese journalist working for the New York Times has been freed after almost three years in jail in China. |
| Zhao Yan was arrested in 2004 and later charged with leaking state secrets, prompting condemnation from human rights groups and Western governments. | Zhao Yan was arrested in 2004 and later charged with leaking state secrets, prompting condemnation from human rights groups and Western governments. |
| That charge was dropped but he was then convicted of defrauding an official of $2,500 - a charge he has always denied. | |
| On his release, he was met by friends and relatives including his sister, who said he was in good spirits. | On his release, he was met by friends and relatives including his sister, who said he was in good spirits. |
| Zhao Yan was released from prison early on Saturday morning, but chose not to make any kind of statement. | |
| Reporting restrictions | |
| Mr Zhao, 45, works as a research assistant for the New York Times in China. | |
| He was detained by state security forces in September 2004 after writing a short note about political rivalries among China's leaders. | |
| He was eventually sentence to three years for fraud, and those three years are now up. | |
| The New York Times says that it is delighted Zhao Yan has been released, says the BBC's James Reynolds, in Beijing. | |
| The newspaper says that his only offence seems to have been practising journalism, while human rights organisations say that this case demonstrates how hard it is for Chinese journalists to report what is really going on in the country, he adds. | |
| China is currently detaining more than 80 Chinese journalists and bloggers, according to the rights group Reporters Without Borders. |