Index

DATE=9/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WEN HO LEE RELEASED (L-ALTERNATE)
NUMBER=2-266467
BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
Voiced At:


INTRO: Wen Ho Lee, the Chinese-American accused of
mishandling nuclear secrets, has been released from
prison under a plea agreement. Mike O'Sullivan
reports from our West Coast bureau, the judge
criticized U-S officials for their handling of the
case.


TEXT: Under the agreement, Mr. Lee pleaded guilty to
one felony count of mishandling nuclear data, and the
government dropped the remaining 58 charges against
him.

His release was expected Monday, but was delayed at
the last minute. Wednesday, it was approved, and the
scientist spoke with reporters outside the federal
courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

/// LEE ACT ///

I want to say thank you to all the people who
supported me. I really appreciate it very, very
much.

/// END ACT ///

The scientist was fired last year from his job at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory, and was jailed in
December. Prosecutors persuaded the judge he posed a
security risk, and Mr. Lee was held in solitary
confinement.

Problems with the government's case began to emerge
last month, when a senior federal investigator
admitted to the judge he had made erroneous statements
in earlier testimony. The agent, Robert Messemer,
retracted previous statements that Mr. Lee had lied
and sought to conceal his actions when he copied
weapons files.

Last month, the judge was prepared to release Mr. Lee
on bail and allow him to stay at home under electronic
surveillance, as he awaited his trial. The government
filed an appeal, which kept Mr. Lee in prison until
his release Wednesday.

After the release, District Judge James Parker
apologized for the government for what he called the
unfair manner in which Mr. Lee was held. He also
criticized top officials at the U-S Departments of
Energy and Justice, saying their handling of the case
had embarrassed the country.

Outside the courthouse, prosecutors said Mr. Lee has
never explained why he downloaded hundreds of
thousands of pages of weapons data. They also want to
know the location of seven computer tapes that are now
missing. Under the plea agreement, Mr. Lee will
cooperate with investigators, and submit to lie-
detector tests, if requested.

Prosecutors, for their part, declined to apologize.
U-S Attorney Norman Bay says the plea agreement helps
protect U-S security.

/// BAY ACT ///

Why did Doctor Lee make the tapes? What did he
do with them? Does anybody else have them now?
This agreement gives us the best opportunity to
answer each one of those critical questions.

/// END ACT ///

Mr. Lee had many supporters, including Asian-American
groups and fellow scientists. Even some former
officials at the Los Alamos laboratory believed he was
not guilty. And many who were not sure criticized his
imprisonment in solitary confinement.

Mr. Lee was born in Taiwan and is a naturalized U-S
citizen, and his lawyers say he was targeted because
of his ethnic background. But U-S Attorney Norman Bay
says that race was not an issue in this case.

/// BAY ACT ///

It was about the actions of a man who mishandled
huge amounts of classified data and who got
caught doing it.

/// END ACT ///

In coming weeks, U-S officials hope to get some
answers about the scientist's behavior, which they say
they would not have gotten had they gone to trail.
The scientist says he is happy he can spend some time
with his family, and that over the next few days, he
plans to go fishing. (Signed)

NEB/MO/TVM/PT



13-Sep-2000 17:44 PM EDT (13-Sep-2000 2144 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.