China, the regime releases Weiwei
the dissident artist free on bail

BEIJING – Chinese architect and artist Ai Weiwei has been released following the payment of a deposit. The Xinhua agency announced it. Weiwei, author of the famous Beijing National Stadium better known as the “bird’s nest”, was arrested last April on the formal charge of tax evasion. The artist has always been in the sights of the regime for his critical positions. According to Xinhua, the detainee was released for “good behavior demonstrated in confessing his crimes” and after offering to repay the taxes he would have escaped. His release also appears to be due to health conditions.

For a long time imprisoned in a secret location, the artist has been at the center of an international mobilization in recent months. In favor of his release, there have been both public petitions and official positions taken by various governments, starting with the US one . A campaign that last May finally managed to get his wife to visit him . On that occasion, Ms. Weiwei was not allowed to make statements, but merely reassured herself that she had found him in good health. In Italy, several personalities from the world of culture, politics and entertainment were asking for his release, joining an appeal by the Pulitzer association.

A graduate of the Beijing Film Academy and a specialist at the Parsons School of Design in New York, Ai Weiwei has established himself with works that have always had the flavor of denunciation: in 2009 his installation Remebering had dominated the facade of the Haus der Kunst of Monaco with 9000 colorful backpacks, macabre symbol of the many children killed in the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a huge finger pointed at the Chinese authorities responsible for the collapse of school buildings. In the eyes of the Chinese regime the artist was guilty of another serious fault, having signed the “Charta 08”, a manifesto on respect for human rights in China drafted by a large group of dissident intellectuals, including also the Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo.

(June 22, 2011)