China has released Hu Jia, an activist who was once a contender for the Nobel peace prize, after he served more than three years in jail on subversion charges.

　　因“煽動顛覆國家政權罪”入獄的中國異議人士胡佳，在服刑3年多后獲釋。胡佳此前曾獲得諾貝爾和平獎提名。

　　Unlike the surprise release of artist Ai Weiwei last week, Mr Hu’s exit from prison had been scheduled. But his freedom is expected to remain restricted under a form of house arrest that China has used to muzzle other critics upon release.

　　胡佳此次為刑滿釋放，因此不像艾未未上周獲釋那樣令人驚訝。不過，估計胡佳的個人自由仍會受到某種軟禁形式的限制。在其他異議人士獲釋后，中國政府常常以這種方式限制其言論自由。

　　A tireless campaigner for Aids victims and the environment, Mr Hu won the European Union’s top human rights honour, the Sakharov prize, in 2008 and had also been seen as a potential Nobel peace prize laureate.

　　由于為艾滋病患者和環境保護問題不知疲倦地奔走，胡佳在2008年獲得了歐盟(EU)最高人權榮譽——“薩哈羅夫獎”，并曾有望獲得諾貝爾和平獎。

　　He was jailed just months before Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008 on accusations that he was planning sabotage. He had written articles saying that the government would use the games as a lavish celebration to mask rampant rights abuses and corruption.

　　在2008年北京舉辦奧運會之前幾個月，胡佳因被指控策劃破壞活動而遭到囚禁。他曾撰文指出，政府將把奧運會當作一場奢侈的慶典，以掩蓋猖獗的人權及腐敗問題。

　　Mr Hu returned to his Beijing home, an apartment complex called Bobo Freedom City, early on Sunday.

　　胡佳已于周日早間回到北京家中，他所居住的住宅小區名為“BOBO自由城”。

　　"On a sleepless night, Hu Jia came home at 2:30 am. Peaceful. Very happy. Needs some time to recuperate," Zeng Jinyan, Hu’s wife, wrote on her Twitter account.

　　胡佳的妻子曾金燕在自己的Twitter帳號上寫道：“不眠之夜，兩點半胡佳到家。平安，很開心。需要休養一段時間。”

　　Under his sentence, Mr Hu will not be allowed to speak to media for another year. The bail conditions imposed on Mr Ai also prevent him from giving interviews or publishing comments online.

　　按照判決，胡佳在未來一年內仍不得接受媒體采訪。艾未未取保候審的條件中，也包括禁止他接受采訪或在網上發表評論。

　　Ahead of Mr Hu’s release, Human Rights Watch appealed to the Chinese government not to subject him to house arrest.

　　胡佳獲釋前，人權觀察組織(Human Rights Watch)曾呼吁中國政府不要對他實施軟禁。

　　"For Chinese human rights activists, prison is only one way of losing one’s freedom," Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director of the rights group, said in a statement. “House arrest, restrictions on movements, and enforced disappearances are often what awaits them upon release.”

　　“對中國維權人士而言，入獄不過是失去個人自由的一種形式，”人權觀察組織亞洲促進主任索菲?理查森(Sophie Richardson)在一份聲明中說。“他們出獄后往往還會遭遇軟禁、行動受限以及強迫失蹤。”

　　Over the past few days, China has also released four associates of Mr Ai who had disappeared after the famous artist was arrested in April, according to Amnesty International.

　　大赦國際(Amnesty International)透露，過去幾天，中國政府還釋放了艾未未的四位助手，他們是4月份艾未未被捕后失蹤的。

　　Dozens of Chinese dissidents have been detained or gone missing this year after anonymous calls on the internet for an uprising in China like the protests sweeping the Arab world. Human rights groups say that more than 130 lawyers, activists and bloggers have been targeted, making it the most intense period of repression in China since the Tiananmen demonstrations in 1989.

　　今年早些時候，互聯網上出現了匿名號召，呼吁在中國發起與“阿拉伯之春”類似的抗議活動，此后已有數十位中國異見人士被拘或失蹤。人權團體稱，已有超過130名律師、維權人士和博主成為目標。這是自1989年天安門事件以來，中國壓制異見最密集的一個時期。

　　The releases of Mr Hu and Mr Ai came as Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao visits Europe for four days of mainly economic discussions, promising to support Europe by buying more government debt and expanding trade ties.

　　胡佳和艾未未獲釋，恰逢中國總理溫家寶對歐洲展開為期四天的訪問。溫家寶此次訪問重點將討論經濟問題，承諾通過購買更多政府債券、擴大貿易合作來支持歐洲。