. Solar Energy News .




.
SOUTH AMERICA
China releases artist Ai Weiwei on bail
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) June 23, 2011

Outspoken Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was released on bail in Beijing Wednesday nearly three months after he was detained during the government's biggest crackdown on activists in years.

Police released him after he confessed to tax evasion and because he suffers from a "chronic disease", the official Xinhua news agency said.

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. My health is fine," Ai told Britain's ITV television as he returned to his home.

The burly, bearded artist would not comment on the conditions in detention.

"No I cannot say anything. I'm really sorry. Please understand that. I'm so happy I'm home and thank you," he told ITV News.

The release of Ai, who was taken into custody at Beijing's international airport on April 3 while trying to board a flight to Hong Kong, was somewhat unexpected as authorities had suggested he was involved in massive tax fraud.

The detention of the avant-garde artist -- whose work was on display at London's Tate Modern gallery this year -- sparked an international outcry, with the United States and the European Union leading calls for his release.

Ai, 54, was released because of "his good attitude in confessing his crimes", his willingness to repay the taxes he owes, and on medical grounds, Xinhua said. Ai has diabetes.

The report, citing police, said the Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., a company controlled by Ai, was found to have "evaded a huge amount of taxes and intentionally destroyed accounting documents".

His lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, told AFP late Wednesday he had received a text message from Ai confirming he had been released.

Ai's sister Gao Ge told AFP she and her mother were still waiting to hear from the artist.

"We haven't had any contact with him, we still haven't seen him," she said.

"The police haven't told us he has been released. Journalists called us and told us about the Xinhua report."

Ai's mobile was at first switched off, and then calls rang busy or went unanswered. The phone of his wife Lu Qing was switched off.

The son of a poet revered by China's early Communist leaders, Ai helped design the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, but has since become a thorn in the government's side.

The artist has angered authorities with his involvement in a number of sensitive activist campaigns and his relentless criticism of the ruling Communist Party.

He probed the collapse of schools in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, looked into a Shanghai high-rise fire last November that killed dozens, and says police beat him when he tried to testify on behalf of another activist in 2009.

In January, his newly built Shanghai studio was demolished in apparent retaliation for his criticism of city policies, and a month later Ai said his first large solo exhibition in mainland China was cancelled over political sensitivities.

His detention -- part of a major government crackdown on dissent, which follows online calls for demonstrations in China to emulate the "Jasmine" protests that have rocked the Arab world -- has raised hackles in the West.

The United States, Australia, Britain, France and Germany had called for his release.

Phelim Kine, an Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said Ai's case showed the power of international pressure but cautioned that it was crucial to monitor the conditions of his release following his "illegal disappearance".

"We have legitimate cause to be concerned about the conditions," Kine told AFP.

"The Chinese government may impose a bargain that in order to effect his release, he will no longer take a high-profile engagement on issues of human rights."

Kine said he was also concerned about other Chinese activists in detention.

"It's great that there appears to be some sort of movement in Ai Weiwei's case, but it's important to remember that there are also less famous individuals whose whereabouts are unknown," he said.

Catherine Baber, Amnesty International's Asia Pacific deputy director, said Ai's release was a "tokenistic move by the government to deflect mounting criticism".

"Ai Wewei's release coincides with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the UK and Germany -- countries where the artist has strong professional ties and public support," Baber said in a statement.

She called for Ai to be given "full liberty" and not be placed under house arrest, and for the immediate release of his four associates -- Wen Tao, Hu Mingfen, Liu Zhenggang, Zhang Jinsong.

Ai joined Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British actor Colin Firth and Myanmar's democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi this year in Time magazine's annual list of the world's 100 most influential people.

burs/mtp/mm




Related Links
News from South America

.
Get Our Free Newsletters Via Email
...
Buy Advertising Editorial Enquiries






. Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle



SOUTH AMERICA
Chinese AIDS activist jailed for criminal damage
Beijing (AFP) Feb 12, 2011
A Chinese AIDS activist has been jailed for a year for criminal damage at the hospital where he believes he was infected as a child, his lawyer said Saturday. Tian Xi, 24, was arrested in August 2010 in central China's Xincai district and accused of smashing up equipment in the hospital where he says he received transfusions of tainted blood. "The verdict was announced yesterday by the X ... read more


SOUTH AMERICA
Boeing 747-8 Freighter Arrives at Paris After Historic Biofuel Flight

New biofuel sustainability assessment tool and GHG calculator released

Iowa State hybrid lab combines technologies to make biorenewable fuels and products

ORNL neutrons, simulations reveal details of bioenergy barrier

SOUTH AMERICA
Genius of Einstein, Fourier key to new humanlike computer vision

Industry Helps Engineering Students Reanimate Robotic Mine Vehicles

The hand as a joystick

Guide vests robotic navigation aids for the visually impaired

SOUTH AMERICA
PSC Allows Installation of Largest Land-Based Wind Turbines in NY

Olympic Steel Installs Wind Turbine

Siemens unveils wind turbine prototype

German port's future blowing in the wind

SOUTH AMERICA
Toyota, rivals to hire thousands in post-quake push

HALL Wines Installs ECOtality's Blink EV Charging Station

Japan's Mazda eyes return to profit, Mexico plant

Toyota optimistic on restoring American production

SOUTH AMERICA
Improving LED lighting

BP unveils liability deal with Weatherford

Build unified ASEAN in South China Sea: McCain

Encana rejects shale gas deal with PetroChina

SOUTH AMERICA
Graphene may gain an 'on-off switch,' adding semiconductor to long list of achievements

Building 2D graphene metamaterials and 1-atom-thick optical devices

Singapore researchers invent broadband graphene polarizer

Iowa State physicists explain the long, useful lifetime of carbon-14

SOUTH AMERICA
Estonia, Lithuania vow energy security

Glimmers of green hope for Asian cities

China prepares for summer power crisis

Population growth spurs surge to Asia's cities

SOUTH AMERICA
Afforestation will hardly dent warming problem: study

Africa's tree belt takes root in Senegal

Euro ministers to seek forests agreement

Integrating agriculture and forestry in the landscape is key to REDD


Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily Express :: SpaceWar Express :: TerraDaily Express :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News
.

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2011 - Space Media Network. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement