He criticizes that there are political prisoners in 21st century Spain

The prestigious Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei visited the president of Òmnium Cultural, Jordi Cuixart, in the prison of Lledoners. After the visit, he criticized that there are political prisoners in 21st century Spain. “It is quite ironic that there are political prisoners in today’s Europe, imprisoned for over a year without a trial,” he said. “This is certainly not an acceptable situation, as it totally violates the essential meaning of a civilized and democratic society”.

The artist and activist Ai Weiwei was impressed with the Catalan civil society leader after the visit, “I met Jordi and I think he is an amazing spirit, he is like an artist, he is so passionate”, he said, stressing that “the prison will make him stronger”, which “is a very unique opportunity for him”.

Ai also mentioned the rest of the political prisoners being held in Lledoners and assured that “they are well in spirit and will defend their human rights in a democratic society.”

This is not the first time that Ai has shown interest in the Catalan case. In April he met with President Carles Puigdemont in Berlin, where he lives, and in November he traveled to Brussels to do a joint conference with Puigdemont. Ai has had problems with the Chinese authorities over his allegations of government corruption, especially with regards to the case of the school collapse in Sichuan after the 2008 earthquake.