HONG KONG - A Hong Kong Falun Gong follower has been released after nearly a month in detention in Beijing, the controversial spiritual group said on Monday.
Chan Yuk-to, 34, was released and deported to Hong Kong on Saturday after being told he would be banned from mainland China, according to a statement from Falun Gong in Hong Kong.
"He was told that he would be barred entry into mainland China for the next five years," the statement said.
Banned and vilified in mainland China as an "evil cult," the Falun Gong remains legal in Hong Kong, a former British colony that was promised a high degree of autonomy when it reverted to Chinese rule in 1997.
Chan, who was not available for comment, was arrested by authorities in Beijing in mid-July.
A permanent resident of Hong Kong, Chan lived and worked in Beijing. His release followed a three-day protest in Hong Kong last week led by his mother Lau Yuk-ling, also a Falun Gong practitioner.
"They confiscated everything in his house. The computer, the mobile phone, books and tapes on Falun Gong. He only practised at home and didn't harm others," Chan's mother, Lau Yuk-ling, told Reuters.
China has accused the Falun Gong of trying to topple its communist leadership and banned the movement in July 1999.
The crackdown intensified this year after an apparent suicide attempt by alleged members in Beijing in January. A mother and her 12-year-old daughter died after setting themselves on fire in Beijing's Tiananmen Square.
02:19 08-13-01
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