Excessive Response

The 2008 olympics showed off China's PR machine at its best. But blogger Brian Conley saw a different side of the Games: on Aug. 13, he was arrested and interrogated for 22 hours after videotaping a Free Tibet protest. Conley spoke with NEWSWEEK's Brian Braiker:

I heard about your arrest through [the Web]. Word spread quickly online.
So I've heard. I didn't really know anything until Friday the 22nd, when the embassy came to the detention center … There was a lot of bluster from the Chinese police but I didn't feel much actual, serious threat.

How were you treated once you were detained?
As an American, I definitely was treated much better than the Chinese [but] the whole thing was really bizarre … all the rules were geared towards accepting that you've done wrong and making yourself better by working hard and being polite to your cellmates and supervisors.

Were you told why you ' d been detained?
The Chinese authorities made it very clear that the reason we were given 10 days [in detention] and not simply deported … was because we were doing media work and because we were ensuring [that] people outside China saw dissent happening.

© 2008