Protest outside Chinese embassy in Berlin over Ai Weiwei's arrest

Apr 17, 2011, 13:51 GMT

Demonstrators demand the release of Chinese contemporary artist Ai Weiwei with an art happening at the Chinese embassy in Berlin, Germany, 17 April 2011. The silent protest action under the motto \'1001 chairs for Ai Weiwei\' is organised to protest against the detainment of the artist who disappeared on 03 April in Peking. EPA/BRITTA PEDERSEN

Berlin - Around 150 demonstrators set up chairs for a 'sit- in' protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Berlin on Sunday to demand the release of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei.

The protest, which included human rights activists and politicians, was accompanied by placards bearing the question, 'Where is Ai Weiwei?'

The dissident, who had planned to open a studio in Berlin, was arrested in Beijing on April 3 - days after a high-profile German enlightenment exhibition opened on the city's Tiananmen Square.

Sunday's protest was part of an international call, organized online, to set up 1,001 chairs at 1pm local time in cities including New York, London, Moscow and Hong Kong, in reference to Ai's 2007 art project Fairytale.

Guenter Nooke, Germany's former human rights envoy and a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrat party, was among the demonstrators in front of the Chinese embassy in Berlin.

'Of course I am personally interested in such campaigns to remind the Chinese that, if they are to be taken seriously internationally, they need to stick to a few rules,' Nooke told the German Press Agency dpa.

'Many artists are arrested for political reasons in China, and sometimes it helps to campaign symbolically for one who is particularly well known.'

Earlier in the day, Ai's sister Gao Ge expressed doubt that popular protest would help his release.

'At the same time, I don't think the international demonstrations will worsen his situation,' she told dpa, adding that she had had no news of his whereabouts.

Simone, 40, felt it was important to join the protest, even if it had a negligible impact.

'I think the important thing is to take position, in comparison to all the museum heads who were initially very hesitant ... I wish they would also sit here and adopt a clear, internationally recognizable position.'

She was doubtful that the protest would make much impression on the Chinese government, 'but maybe on the people in China who have access to images through the internet and realize they are not alone.'

Demonstrator Martin Petschke said Ai's plight drew attention to broader human rights abuses in China.

'I think you have to put a face to these these attempts at repression and presumably unjustified arrest, in order to say, what is happening to him is happening to many other people,' the 50-year- old said.

In Munich around 80 people set up chairs outside the Chinese consulate and held signs demanding the artist's release, police said. Smaller groups gathered in Hamburg and the town of Minden.

On Saturday, Amnesty International activists gathered at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate to demand Ai's release.

Merkel has also sent a direct appeal to the Chinese leadership, expressing her concern for Ai and appealing for his release.

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