Amnesty joins call by Germany's Merkel to release Ai Weiwei

Apr 16, 2011, 12:33 GMT

Amnesty International activists hold signs demanding freedom for Liu Xiaobo and in the foreground two men dressed as soldiers offering a photo theme for tourists on Pariser Platz in Berlin, Germany, 16 April 2011. Around a dozen activists from the human rights organization Amnesty International demonstrated in front of the Brandenburg Gate for the release of Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and other dissidents. EPA/FLORIAN SCHUH

Berlin - Amnesty International activists in Germany demanded Saturday the release of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, as it emerged that German Chancellor Angela Merkel had made a personal plea to Beijing.

The president of Berlin's Academy of Arts, Klaus Staeck, joined around a dozen Amnesty activists for a vigil at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate.

'We want it to be made public that many people in Germany are not happy with Chinese politics,' said activist Martin Reimer of Amnesty International.

Staeck said that Amnesty's engagement showed that Ai's arrest had a political dimension, and said his academy would hold a talk on the case with politicians and art foundation heads on April 26.

Artists around the world are expected Sunday to campaign for the release of Ai, who was arrested in Beijing on April 3. Nothing has been heard of him since.

Spiegel news magazine reported that Merkel had written to the Chinese leadership last weekend, expressing her concern for Ai and appealing for his release.

The human rights commission of the German parliament reportedly also wrote to Chinese President Hu Jintao, expressing incomprehension at the artist's arrest, and insisting that the right to free expression was inalienable.

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