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Ai Weiwei Discloses Captivity Conditions

Says detention was "designed as a kind of mental torture."

Formerly silenced artist and Chinese dissident Ai Weiwei has elaborated on the conditions of his captivity as they were detailed by his anonymous associate in a phone interview with The New York Times. During his three-month detention, Ai was watched 24 hours a day by soldiers who were never more than two and a half feet from his side, even while he slept, showered, and used the bathroom. “It is designed as a kind of mental torture, and it works well,” Ai said. He was arrested on April 3 for tax evasion, but his associate said police did not bring up the alleged reason for his arrest when they interrogated him, but rather criticized his blog postings and condemned him for being “too defiant” and “disobedient.”