Prominent Chinese Dissident Released From Jail

Less than a week after renowned artist Ai Weiwei was freed, another prominent Chinese dissident, Hu Jia, 37, was released from prison and is now home with his family, his wife announced on Twitter. She told Reuters that they were not speaking with the press for fear that it "might cause problems." Hu is reportedly being treated similarly to Ai Weiwei--though he has been freed, security forces are keeping watch outside his home and preventing him from talking to the media. Hu was imprisoned in 2008 for writing articles and doing interviews with journalists in which he openly criticized the Chinese government, and was outspoken during the time leading up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The country's state-run news agency declared that he had "spread malicious rumors, libel, and instigation."