From Reuters:
Authorities have released a Chinese lawyer jailed for helping evicted Shanghai residents seek compensation, but an official crackdown on petitioners has become worse, a human rights group said.
Zheng Enchong was set free on Monday after serving a three-year sentence at Shanghai’s Tilanqiao prison on charges of “illegally obtaining state secrets”, the New York-based Human Rights in China said in a statement seen on Tuesday.
Zheng had helped Shanghai residents with a lawsuit accusing the city government of colluding with real estate tycoon Zhou Zhengyi, once one of China’s richest men but later convicted and jailed for stock market fraud and falsifying documents.[full text]