China to release last prisoner jailed over Tiananmen Square protests

Miao Deshun, who was 25 when he was jailed in 1989, has been in
prison for almost three decades and has had no contact with outside
world for years

Tom Phillips in Beijing
Wednesday 4 May 2016 05.12 BST

The last prisoner being held in China in connection with the 1989 Tiananmen protests is set to be released later this year after nearly three decades behind bars.

Miao Deshun, who was 25 at the time of the mass pro-democracy demonstrations, was one of about 1,600 Chinese people jailed following a brutal military crackdown on 4 June 1989 in which hundreds of lives are believed to have been lost.

In August that year Miao, a worker from Hebei province, was convicted of arson for allegedly hurling a basket on to a burning tank along with four colleagues. He received a death sentence with a two-year reprieve that was commuted to a life sentence in 1991.

The protester’s sentence was reduced on three subsequent occasions – most recently in March this year – meaning he is now due for release on 15 October, the Dui Hua Foundation, a US-based human rights group, announced this week.

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