Chinese democracy activist Liu Xianbin, who was imprisoned for inciting subversion of state power in 2011, was released from prison on Saturday, but the release has not meant a loosening of governmental restrictions, according to fellow dissidents.

Liu’s wife, Chen Mingxian, told Apple Daily on Sunday that her husband had arrived safely at their home in Suining in the southwestern province of Sichuan the night before and was currently under two weeks of home quarantine.

Liu, a writer and former student protester during Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, had been jailed three times since 1992. Now 51 years old, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail in 2011 for inciting subversion of state power in a series of articles he had written calling for democratic reform.

According to Wang Dan, a prominent activist who also participated in the 1989 student protests, two of Liu’s close friends were briefly detained after they tried to welcome him home.

Wang reported that Chen Wei, a close friend of Liu’s who was also part of the Tiananmen Square protests, and another friend rushed to Liu’s apartment after hearing the news of his release. While waiting at the housing estate, however, the two were harassed by security guards and were later taken away by police. The pair was eventually released at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

Chen Wei, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for inciting subversion through his articles criticizing Chinese authorities, has been under constant surveillance by the government.

A few days prior to Liu’s release, Chen Yunfei, an activist who also lives in Sichuan province, was forbidden by authorities to leave his home to visit Liu. According to Wang, Chen Yunfei was also banned from making any comments about Liu’s release.

Wang called Liu a “man of principle” in a column for the Taiwanese newspaper Liberty Times on Saturday.

“Once he identifies a road he has to take, he will never turn back, no matter the cost. This is the kind of person that a regime is afraid of,” Wang wrote.

Meanwhile, Chen Mingxian said her husband seemed to be in good health although he appeared tired. She added that she did not want to be separated from Liu again.

“The first time he was jailed we had not yet met, the second time I didn’t know what was happening, the third time it just happened. I don’t want there to be a fourth or fifth time,” she said.

Click here for Chinese version.

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