Sichuan quake activist Tan Zuoren defiant after release from prison

Activist Tan Zuoren, who was jailed for five years after investigating the deaths of thousands of children in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, was released yesterday, said two fellow rights campaigners, although his whereabouts remained unknown.

Tan was released from a jail in Yaan, Sichuan, at about 6am and has been reunited with his wife, veteran activist Huang Qi said. Neither Tan nor his wife could be reached by phone yesterday. Huang said it was likely they had not been taken home by the authorities but somewhere else, although he declined to elaborate.

Fellow activist Ran Yunfei said he had met Tan after his release, but declined to elaborate.

Huang, a close friend of Tan, said the activist still firmly believed in his mission and had written a lengthy appeal letter in prison, maintaining that he was wrongly accused.

"He firmly believes that he was put in jail because he was framed," Huang said. "After his release, he will carry on his rights activism. There's no doubt about that."

Tan was arrested on March 28, 2009, and jailed the following year on the charge of "inciting subversion of state power".