One of the better know of the Tianamen protesters of 1989 has been set free now. That looks like good news but it isn't.

He is free but mentally disturbed, babbling incoherently and unable to recognise friends or family members.

inmates said he had been tied to a pole and left in the sun for several days before being locked in solitary confinement for another two years. (from Amnesty International news)

The crime for which he originally got a 20 year sentence was throwing paint at a Mao Zedong portrait.

Wolfgang