Ai Weiwei demonstrates for Julian Assange at Old Bailey while promoting London billboard commission

On September 28, artist Ai Weiwei appeared outside London's Old Bailey courthouse wearing a t-shirt featuring his image with Julian Assange, whose extradition hearing was underway. He told the Associated Press that Assange should be freed, calling the situation unfair. The demonstration coincided with promotional activities for his new commission on Piccadilly Circus billboards, where his work will display for two minutes nightly throughout October. This follows the August release of his documentary 'Coronation' about the COVID-19 pandemic. In a BBC interview on Tuesday, Ai criticized China's domestic policies, describing the country as a 'police state' and noting Western nations should have been concerned earlier. The Assange hearing, concluding this week, involves charges of conspiring with Chelsea Manning to expose military secrets in 2010. Prosecutors indicated Assange could face solitary confinement at ADX Colorado 'Supermax' prison if convicted, a facility housing inmates like Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman and Terry Nichols. Ai, now living in Cambridge, has previously supported Assange, visiting him during his seven-year stay at Ecuador's UK embassy.