nwasianweekly.com
June 10, 2006

Wen Ho Lee

Wen Ho Lee can move on with the rest of his life, finally.

After more than six years toiling in the legal system, Lee last week won a $1.6 million settlement from the U.S. government and various news organizations, including The New York Times. We hope this brings some sense of vindication to the former nuclear scientist who was wrongly accused of spying for China.

No, Lee did not win the judgment outright, but the settlement nonetheless sends a powerful message — that the government was not entirely sure that it had not violated Lee’s privacy rights by leaking information about his case to the media.

It’s not every day that The New York Times, The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and ABC pay up like this. In fact, the settlement may be the first of its kind ever.

Even if they are not admitting any fault, the government and the news organizations are certainly not the victors in this case.

We hope this brings a sense of closure to Lee, whose spy case had once been compared to the Rosenbergs’. Even though he was never charged with espionage, he was held in solitary confinement for nine months. Lee was released in 2000 after agreeing to plead guilty to one charge, mishandling nuclear data. A judge later apologized to Lee for his treatment by the government.

This ordeal no doubt has been trying for his wife and two adult children, all of whom fought relentlessly over the years to bring the truth to light — that the government was making a mountain out of a mole hill, that Lee was the victim of a witch hunt. They sacrificed incalculable amounts of time, money and energy to clear Lee’s name.

We also acknowledge the attorneys, both Asian American and non-Asian American, who stepped forward to assist Lee and his family.

We hope the family will get to, finally, turn their attention toward more meaningful and personally fulfilling pursuits. Lee, at age 66, has already lost too many years of his life to this case, and that’s a shame. No amount of money will ever take the place of that loss, but at least this outcome came during Lee’s lifetime. At least he is able to experience the satisfaction that comes when justice is served.

We hope this settlement marks the end of one ugly chapter in their lives, and in the history of this country.

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