An elderly practitioner of the Falungong spiritual movement has returned to Hong Kong after being released early from a seven-year sentence in a Myanmar jail, a group spokeswoman said.
Hong Kong resident Chan Wing-yuen, 71, was arrested in Yangon in December 2001 for unfurling a Falungong banner during a visit by then Chinese president Jiang Zemin.
China has banned Falungong, calling it an "evil cult".
Chan, who had been in the Myanmar capital to see relatives, was sentenced to seven years in prison last January.
He was unexpectedly released this month after a year and half in jail, said Falungong spokeswoman Sophie Xiao Thursday.
"He is now resting after returning to Hong Kong last week," Xiao said.
Falungong practitioners worldwide launched campaign for Chan's release with letters, phone calls and faxes directed at the Myanmar government and the Chinese embassy in Yangon.
Falungong, which combines meditation with Buddhist-inspired teachings, was banned by mainland China in July 1999 but is legal in Hong Kong, which was granted a degree of autonomy from the mainland when Britain returned it to China in 1997.