Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation Appeals For The Immediate Release of Ai Weiwei

Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation Appeals For The Immediate Release of Ai Weiwei

• Target: His Excellency Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China

The UK, Germany, France, Australia, US and the EU have all publicly called for Ai Weiwei to be released, as well as many leading figures in the art world.Ai Weiwei, the world famous artist, and a courageous advocate of human rights, the rule of law and individual freedoms, was detained by the Chinese authorities on 3rd April 2011 as he tried to board a flight to Hong Kong and he has not been heard from since. His wife, friends and staff were also detained and questioned over the weekend. His Beijing studio has been searched, and his computer hard-drives confiscated.
Ai Weiwei is perhaps best known for his collaboration with architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron on the design for the Olympic Bird's Nest stadium. His 100 million Sunflower Seeds exhibit still showing at the Tate Modern in London has been a resounding success.

Ai Weiwei has been an outspoken critic of the government. Last year he was placed under house arrest after resisting the demolition of his studio in Shanghai by the authorities. In 2009 he was hospitalised after being beaten by police for attending a fellow human rights campaigners trial. He is being considered for this years 2011 TIME 100 poll of the most influential people in the world. He is regarded as a political hero.

Ai Weiwei and his art could be a symbol of China's growing leadership in the world, but the Chinese authorities have chosen instead to try to erase him from the national and cultural memory. We must now also stand with Ai Weiwei and with all those who have been unjustly detained. Please sign The Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation's petition urging the Chinese government to step up to its global leadership position and stop the persecution of political critics and attempts to erase them from the internet.
Please help us free Ai Weiwei by signing this petition. If enough of us take action now, we can make sure that Chinese voices of freedom are not silent forever.