Chinese Releases Leading Dissident

The BBC reports:

Prominent Chinese dissident Hu Jia has been released from prison and reunited with his family, his wife says.

Mr Hu, 37, served a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for "inciting subversion". His term had been set to end on Sunday.

There is a heavy police presence outside Mr Hu's Beijing home and he now appears to be under some form of house arrest, a BBC correspondent says.

Mr Hu's release coincidentally follows that of artist Ai Weiwei last week.

Mr Ai's detention in April had prompted a global campaign for his release. The Chinese authorities say Mr Ai, 53, has confessed to tax evasion offences.