Beijing (AsiaNews
/ Agencies) - A Chinese court has rejected an appeal by Ai Weiwei, Chinese
artist and dissident, on trial for tax evasion. The
police barred the activist from assisting in the delivery of the verdict. The
tax authorities have imposed a fine of 2 million on Ai. His
supporters say that the penalty has political reasons and the court should
cancel it.
"We
will continue to appeal the verdict until we can, we have nothing to
lose," Ai said on his Twitter account, where the activist informs his fans
every day about the trail process.
Also
from blog the activist points out that shortly before the trial the police
turned up outside his house, barring him from participating in the session. "If
I can not even appear in court - he wrote - what more will this country do to
me?". To
avoid clashes, the authorities deployed hundreds of police uniformed officers and
plain clothes detectives with the task of monitoring all entrances and exits to
the court, denying access to journalists and activists.
Ai
Weiwei is an artist of international renown, who was involved in the Olympic
stadium "Swallow's Nest" in Beijing and has exhibited at the Tate
Gallery in London. Known
for his positions critical of the communist regime, he was arrested and
detained for 3 months in 2011 without charges. His
arrest came at a time when the Chinese government was racing to prevent the
possible early manifestations of riots inspired by the "Arab spring".
Since
his release he has been held under house arrest.
Immediately
after the Chinese authorities accused his company, Beijing Fake Cultural
Development Ltd, of tax evasion together with his wife. He
has described the fine "a joke" aimed at covering up the lack of any
real charges against him. The
appeal filed by his lawyers points the finger at the No. 2 inspection team of the
Beijing Tax Office, which violated the law in the course of investigations and
searches of his offices.