One of China's most prominent prisoners of conscience, Hu Jia, returned home Sunday after completing a jail term for subversion but looked likely to be muzzled along with other top dissidents.

The human rights activist's release after more than three years in prison comes after outspoken artist Ai Weiwei emerged in Beijing last week from nearly three months in police custody amid a government crackdown on dissent.

Hu is widely expected to be hit with the same strict curbs as those applied to Ai and a range of other activists and rights lawyers, who have apparently been ordered to keep quiet to gain their freedom.

Hu returned to his home outside Beijing early Sunday morning, his wife and fellow activist Zeng Jinyan said on Twitter.

"On a sleepless night, Hu Jia arrived home at 2:30 am. Peaceful, very happy. Need to rest for a while. Thanks to you all," she said.

Hu, 37, was jailed on subversion charges in April 2008 just ahead of the Beijing Olympics after angering the ruling Communist Party through his years of bold campaigning for civil rights, the environment and AIDS sufferers.

Ai's detention had sparked an international outcry and his recent release has been widely seen as an attempt by China to defuse criticism during a visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to Europe now under way.

Hu's release at the end of his prison term, however, was long expected.

Aside from his jail sentence, Hu also faces one year of "deprivation of political rights" -- essentially a ban on political activities -- and Zeng has indicated he would be making no public statements.

"During this time, he must treat his cirrhosis and take care of his family," she said on Twitter last week.

Hu suffers from cirrhosis of the liver and Zeng has said the ailment has worsened during his time in jail, blaming the prison for providing inadequate medical care.

Hu and Zeng have a young daughter.

It was not immediately clear exactly what sort of restrictions Hu may face.

Attempts to reach Zeng by telephone at the couple's home were unsuccessful and Chinese security personnel prevented AFP journalists from reaching their apartment on Sunday.

EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton welcomed Hu's release, but her spokesman stressed the bloc's demands that Beijing ensure full freedoms are respected.

"Obviously we welcome the fact Hu has been released," said Ashton's spokesman, Michael Mann. "But it is important to keep an eye on how he is treated from here on in. We hope Hu is given full rights," he told AFP.

Hu began his activism by highlighting discrimination against Chinese HIV/AIDS sufferers and environmental degradation, but later spoke out on behalf of a wide range of victims of government abuses.

As a result, he and Zeng have suffered repeated detention or lengthy periods of house arrest that they have criticised as unlawful.

They made a short documentary, available on the Internet, detailing one of these detentions from 2006-2007 called "Prisoners of Freedom City".

Regularly tipped as a potential candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize, Hu has won overseas human rights awards from bodies such as the European Parliament.

"China has been a dictatorship throughout its entire history," Hu told AFP in a 2007 interview.

"Now... I believe that we have a chance to bring democracy to this country for the first time in 5,000 years."

He was taken into custody in December 2007 amid a previous crackdown on government critics ahead of the Beijing Olympics and convicted on subversion charges.

Rights groups have accused China's ruling Communist Party of abusing such charges as a way of silencing government critics.

Zeng said police told her Hu was not likely to enjoy a "normal" life after his release, remarks she interpreted to mean he would be confined to his home like some other recently released dissidents.

New York-based activist group Human Rights Watch on Friday also urged the Chinese government not to subject Hu and his family to "house arrest or other extrajudicial deprivations of liberty".

The government launched a major crackdown on dissent in February in an apparent bid to squelch any possible Chinese version of the "Arab Spring" uprisings in the Middle East.

Normally outspoken detainees such as Ai have uncharacteristically refused public comment after their release.

Activists say this indicates a systematic new government strategy to silence dissenters, possibly through threats against them or their families.

The rights group Chinese Human Rights Defenders has said 49 people have been detained on suspicion of criminal acts in the ongoing crackdown, most of whom have either been formally arrested, sent to re-education camps, or released on bail awaiting trial.

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