Global outcry helps Ai but "troubling questions" linger

By Bill Smith Jun 23, 2011, 5:41 GMT

(FILE) A file picture dated 09 October 2009 shows Chinese artist Ai Weiwei during a press conference at \'Haus der Kunst\' in Munich, Germany. According to media reports on 22 June 2011 Ai Weiwei was released after being arrested in Beijing in April 2011 while attempting to board a flight to Hong Kong. EPA/TOBIAS HASE

Beijing - China appeared to have released artist and activist Ai Weiwei in response to international pressure, rights groups said Thursday while raising doubts about whether the move would help other detained activists.

Ai has agreed to keep silent about his detention until his trial on charges of tax evasion, leaving 'troubling questions' unanswered about what happened to him since his April 3 arrest, US-based Human Rights Watch said.

'I'm in good physical health,' Ai told the German Press Agency dpa Thursday.

'But I cannot receive any interviews while I am on bail awaiting trial,' Ai said.

The Chinese government's official Xinhua news agency quoted a police statement as saying Ai, 54, was 'released on bail because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from.'

Ai, who was released late Wednesday, takes medication to control diabetes and high blood pressure.

Prominent rights lawyer Li Xiaoyuan, a close friend of Ai, said Thursday that Ai's bail period could last for up to one year.

'The Xinhua news didn't state the length of his bail-pending-trial period, but according to the rules of criminal prosecution law, the maximum time is one year,' Liu said on his blog.

'I believe that changing [Ai's legal status] from residential surveillance to bail pending trial means that the case is developing towards 'simplification,'' he said.

Liu said Ai's bail conditions meant that he must stay in Beijing but was otherwise 'completely free' legally.

Jerome Cohen, a China expert at the New York University School of Law, said police sometimes used bail as a 'face-saving device to end controversial cases that are unwise or unnecessary for them to prosecute.'

'Often in such cases, a compromise has been reached in negotiation with the suspect, as apparently it has been here,' Cohen said in a blog post on Ai's release.

Ai is one of China's most-recognized contemporary artists and was involved in the design of the Bird's Nest stadium for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

His arrest came as part of a broad crackdown on dissent that started after calls for 'jasmine-style' anti-government protests in Chinese cities, like recent popular demonstrations in Arab countries.

Several rights groups said they believed Ai's bail was timed to relieve pressure on the Chinese government ahead of Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to three European nations and a US-China strategic dialogue on Saturday.

Wen was scheduled to arrive in Britain Saturday before travelling to Germany and Hungary.

Human Rights Watch said Ai's release left 'troubling unanswered questions about his arrest, detention and conditions of release.'

It said it was concerned about the 'political nature of his arrest, the conditions under which the police may have extracted a 'confession' from him and possible restrictions on freedoms he faces following his release'.

China's ruling Communist Party accused foreign media, politicians and rights groups of 'interference' by their criticism of its detention of Ai.

But Catherine Baber of London-based Amnesty International said his release 'can be seen as a tokenistic move by the government to deflect mounting criticism.'

'The Chinese government's decision to arrest Ai Weiwei was political and so is his release,' said Sophie Richardson, the group's Asia advocacy director.

'International pressure apparently prodded the Chinese government to conclude that the cost-benefit ratio of continuing to detain Ai Weiwei wasn't worth it,' Richardson said.

Amnesty also said the release appeared to be timed before Wen's visit to Britain and Germany, 'countries where the artist has strong professional ties and public support.'

It said it was 'vital that the international outcry over Ai Weiwei be extended to those activists still languishing in secret detention or charged with inciting subversion.'

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said it was concerned about how Ai came to make his reported confession.

'His release does not mean the end of his problems,' Reporters Without Borders said. 'We fear that the authorities will deploy an entire legal arsenal in order to convict him of an 'economic crime.''

In an earlier blog post during Ai's detention, Cohen said his case showed how the police regularly failed to adhere to Chinese law.

'If a famous figure like Ai Weiwei can be so blatantly abused in the glare of publicity, what protections do ordinary Chinese citizens receive from their police?' Cohen asked.