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

co-designing the 2008 Beijing Olympic stadium known as the Bird's Nest, Ai is an outspoken critic of the

government and 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.