DATE=8/24/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=WEN HO LEE GRANTED BAIL (S-L)
NUMBER=2-265839
BYLINE=MIKE O'SULLIVAN
DATELINE=LOS ANGELES
INTERNET=YES
CONTENT=
INTRO: A U-S federal judge has agreed to free
scientist Wen Ho Lee on bail on Thursday as he awaits
trial on charges of mishandling nuclear secrets. Mike
O'Sullivan has a report from our West Coast Bureau
TEXT: Dismissing government objections that the
defendant is a security risk, the judge in
Albuquerque, New Mexico, agreed to release Mr. Lee on
one million dollars bail. The former scientist for
the Los Alamos National Laboratory had been denied
bail twice before. He was not released immediately,
but will go through a hearing Tuesday to determine his
bail conditions. District Judge James Parker said in
a written decision that Mr. Lee should be kept at home
with electronic monitoring.
The scientist is accused of illegally copying computer
data on nuclear weapons design. He was fired from his
job last year and arrested in December.
Mr. Lee was born in Taiwan but is a naturalized U-S
citizen. Supporters say he was targeted because of
his Asian background, and that most of the information
he copied can be found in public records.
Prosecutors say he copied thousands of pages of
nuclear secrets on unsecured computers and tapes, and
that some of the tapes are now missing.
The case is scheduled to go trial in November.
/// REST OPT FOR LONG ///
This month, a key prosecution witness admitted he was
mistaken in earlier testimony when he said Mr. Lee was
deceptive on several key issues during interviews. In
one case, defense lawyers submitted Mr. Lee's own
report on his contacts with Chinese scientists, after
the prosecution witness said Mr. Lee had concealed
those contacts from supervisors.
The scientist was being held in solitary confinement,
and the American Civil Liberties Union and Asian
American groups have rejected the government's
argument that he posed a security risk if released on
bail. (Signed)
NEB/MO/TVM/PT
24-Aug-2000 19:45 PM EDT (24-Aug-2000 2345 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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