it said what you think it said. And what criminal charge do you think applies to those researchers?

Per article, the paper states “Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus." I'm guessing it didn't say anything about the virus cannot be leaked from the lab otherwise the article would quote that. From my understanding, that's still true. Don't think any evidence of that virus is specified engineered has been put forth by anyone.

A curious paragraph in the article. "Five thousand people have signed a petition accusing the virologists of fraud and calling for the retraction of “Proximal Origin,” including dozens of professionals in science and technology." When a grad student in geology can count as one of dozens professional in science, that petition is basically meaningless. When an article felt the need to inflate its point by referencing such a weak supporting argument, it is probably not making a very strong point.