Police confiscated hundreds of objects from Ai’s studio, including computers, hard drives, CDs and notebooks.

Dear friends and fans,

Ai Weiwei was detained on the morning of April 3rd at Beijing Capital Airport as he attempted to fly to Hong Kong. He was accompanied by his assistant, who was allowed to travel and arrived safely in Hong Kong. Ai Weiwei remains in police custody. No one has been able to confirm his whereabouts since his detention around 7 am on Sunday.

Eight of Ai Weiwei’s studio assistants were also taken into local police custody at the Caochangdi station on the morning of April 3rd. Wen Tao, an activist and former journalist, was also removed from a residence in Caochangdi by four plainclothes police officers driving an unmarked black sedan. This occurred as power was cut to Ai Weiwei’s studio. Police officers swarmed the Beijing compound, searching computers and interrogating Ai’s wife, Lu Qing. Police confiscated hundreds of objects from Ai’s studio, including computers, hard drives, CDs and notebooks. Four police officers remained at Ai’s studio until midnight on April 3rd hoping to interrogate other members of Ai’s staff.

All Ai Weiwei-related posts and messages have been systematically deleted from Sina Weibo since mid-morning on April 3rd.

Ai Weiwei remains in detention twenty-four hours after being taken into custody at Beijing Capital Airport. His wife, Lu Qing, was taken into the local police station for questioning late last night, but has received no word about her husband. Meantime, all eight studio assistants have been released and continue to report a strong police presence around Ai’s studio compound. During questioning, assistants were repeatedly asked about their salaries, size of the studio and visa status. At 5:20 am in Beijing on April 4th, Ai’s lawyer Liu Xiaoyuan reported that Ai’s phone remained off and that he had been unable to locate the artist. Police returned to the studio Monday morning and have been stationed at the gate since 7 am. Ai’s studio still has no power and Caochangdi, the village surrounding the studio, has no Internet access.

No one has been able to contact Wen Tao, the activists also jailed in Sunday’s raid, in 24 hours.

For additional coverage:

Time Magazine: Not Another Day in the Life of Ai Weiwei

NYTimes: China Takes Dissident Artist into Custody

HUM News: [REPORT] Noted Chinese Artist Detained at Beijing Airport, Studio Raided
The New Yorker: Ai Weiwei Detained

The NEVER SORRY team continues to monitor the situation and will keep you posted as we receive more information from Beijing and elsewhere.

Best,

Alison and the NEVER SORRY team