Chinese artist Ai Weiwei released on bail

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei released on bail

2011-06-23 07:42:47 GMT+7 (ICT)

BEIJING (BNO NEWS) -- Renowned Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei was released on bail after "confessing his crimes," the state-run Xinhua news agency reported on Wednesday.

The official government news agency reported that the Beijing police department said that Ai Weiwei has been released because of "his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from." Ai has also allegedly said that he is willing to pay the taxes that the Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., a company he controlled, allegedly evaded.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch expressed concern about the conditions under which the police may have extracted a "confession" from the outspoken government critic.

"The Chinese government's decision to arrest Ai Weiwei was political, and so is his release," said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "But it is also an example of how international pressure works, since Beijing was paying a high cost to its reputation for his detention."

The New York-based rights organization also expressed concern about the conditions of Ai's release, adding that in the past six months the Chinese government has arbitrarily detained dozens of activists who have retreated into uncharacteristic silence and seclusion upon their release.

Ai Weiwei was arrested on April 3 at Beijing's main airport, but his detention was acknowledged only on April 7. He remained in police custody under "residential surveillance" at an unknown location for 80 days. He was denied access to his lawyer, and his wife was allowed to visit him only once on May 15, 42 days into his detention.

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