Artist Detained In Growing Crackdown

BEIJING

Ai Weiwei, China’s most prominent dissident after imprisoned Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, was detained April 3 at the Beijing airport as he tried to board a flight to Hong Kong. Perhaps best known for codesigning the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium known as the Bird’s Nest, Ai is an outspoken critic of the government an has been detained several times. During one period in custody, he was allegedly beaten so badly that he required brain surgery. This arrest comes amid a widespread crackdown touched off by online calls for a Tunisian-style ―jasmine revolution.‖ Over the past several weeks, at least 26 activists have been detained, 200 have been put under house arrest, and more than 30 have disappeared.
Time, April 18, 2011.

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