Ai Weiwei's driver freed on bail; three others "could follow"

Jun 24, 2011, 9:47 GMT

Beijing - China has released the cousin of artist and activist Ai Weiwei on bail and could be planning to release three other people linked to Ai and detained shortly after he was seized on April 3, Ai's sister said Friday.

Gao Ge said their mother visited a Beijing police station Thursday to complete the paperwork for the release on bail of Zhang Jinsong, a cousin who worked as Ai's driver.

Zhang had been charged with illegal currency exchange, Gao said by telephone.

'As he is only a driver, it is nonsense for him to have any criminal charge, so they said 'exchanging foreign currency,'' she said.

Gao said Zhang's health was 'OK' after his release but that he was about 8 kilograms lighter.

'I think the others, especially Wen Tao, could be released,' she said, referring to rumours circulating Friday.

Wen Tao, 38, is a journalist who documented Ai's activism and helped him make documentary films.

The police also arrested Liu Zhenggang, 49, a designer at Ai's Fake Design studio in Beijing and partner in his planned studio in Berlin.

The third person still believed to be under detention was Hu Mingfen, 55, an accountant working for Ai's Beijing studio.

'I heard other people say the others will be released, but I don't know if it's true,' Gao said.

Gao said she took Ai's release on bail Wednesday as a sign that he was not guilty of the charges of tax evasion cited by the government.

'If Ai Weiwei is really guilty, it would be very hard for the government to release him,' she said.

The 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.'

'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, who has diabetes and high blood pressure, 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.

International rights groups said China appeared to have released Ai in response to growing pressure from foreign politicians, media, artists and activists.

The rights groups said the release could be timed to coincide with Premier Wen Jiabao's visits to Britain, Germany and Hungary that begin Saturday and to a US-China strategic dialogue scheduled in Hawaii Saturday.

But China on Thursday denied that its release of Ai was linked to international pressure or to the high-profile diplomatic meeting.

China is a country ruled by law, so China's judicial departments handle the case independently according to the law,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.