Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, detained since April, has reportedly been released on bail.
State media said the artist had been freed ‘because of his good attitude in confessing his crimes as well as a chronic disease he suffers from’.
Ai was detained at Beijing airport on 3 April, igniting an outcry about China's tightening grip on dissent, which has triggered the detention and arrest of dozens of rights activists and dissidents.
Police told state media last month that a company Ai controlled, The Beijing Fake Cultural Development Ltd., had evaded a ‘huge amount’ of taxes and destroyed accounting documents.
But family members and supporters said the outspoken 53-year-old artist was a victim of a crackdown on political dissent that intensified after overseas Chinese websites in February called for protests in China to emulate anti-authoritarian uprisings in the Arab world.
Ai's sister confirmed his release.
News agency Xinhua cited the police as saying that the decision to free Ai also came ‘in consideration of the fact that Ai has repeatedly said he is willing to pay the taxes he evaded’.
