On Tuesday, 10 February 2004, the Falun Dafa Associations of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria in Australia jointly wrote a letter to the French President. Their representative, Ms Kay Rubacek, together with more than 50 Australian Falun Gong practitioners, went to the French Embassy in Canberra and asked the French Ambassador to deliver the letter. They also held a press conference at the Embassy. The spokesperson for the Australian Branch of the World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG) spoke at the press conference.
At about 10:35 am, the Deputy Ambassador of the French Embassy in Canberra, Mr Pierre Seillan, warmly met with Ms Rubacek and Dr Songfa Liu. On the issue of the illicit detainment of Falun Gong practitioners in Paris, Mr Seillan said that he was aware of the incident. He frankly explained what he knew about the incident and received additional information from the Falun Dafa Information Centre that he had not been aware of. He also gladly received the letter to French President Chirac and said he would send it to France soon.
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In the letter to the French President, the Falun Dafa Associations drew his attention to recent incidents in Paris and the history of Falun Gong in France. The letter said, “Falun Gong has been practised in France since March 1995, when the Chinese Ambassador to France and other Embassy officials in Paris invited the founder of Falun Gong, Mr Li Hongzhi, to give lectures in Paris, including a lecture at the Cultural Centre of the Chinese Embassy in Paris.”
“During the Parade [of the Chinese Culture Festival this year], several dozen Falun Gong practitioners were detained by French police and treated very roughly, many even being handcuffed, because their clothing identified them as practitioners. Many of them were wearing yellow scarves embroidered with the words ‘Truthfulness- Compassion-Tolerance’ and ‘Falun Dafa’. None of these practitioners had committed any disturbance or offence – and they were later released without being charged. However, the fact that they were arrested in the first place, simply because they were identified as being part of a particular spiritual group, is extremely disturbing.”
“These actions by the French Police, apparently acting on orders from above, have not only damaged the good image of France, but will also contribute to the further persecution of innocent Chinese people. The faction of the Chinese government still under Jiang’s control, that maintains the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, will use these images of the French Police to further their propaganda campaign in China. More innocent people may endure horrendous torture because they hold fast to their spiritual beliefs. The French authorities are now also responsible for adding fuel to this genocidal fire.”
The Falun Dafa Associations requested the French authorities to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident and to ensure that this will not happen again.
After the meeting, Ms Rubacek read a press statement in front of the French Embassy, which revealed details of the incident, including that a Chinese official was personally directing French police on the street in Paris to detain Falun Gong practitioners. All those detained were not officially charged with anything. On multiple occasions, French police refused to provide their names and badge numbers.
She stated, “We are not targeting any government, including the French and Chinese governments, but the Jiang faction responsible for the persecution of Falun Gong in China and its extension overseas.”
Dr Songfa Liu, representative of the Australian Branch of the World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong (WOIPFG), told the audience that on January 30, 2004, the WOIPFG published ” an investigation report on China’s Ministry of Culture’s export of the persecution of Falun Gong, and the participation in the persecution by some Chinese officials of the Sino-France Cultural Year Exchange Program”. It monopolises the Chinese media and manipulates news and publications pertaining to Falun Gong. A large volume of Falun Gong publications have been seized and destroyed, making it difficult for the public to verify the evidence that the Jiang regime uses to insult and lie about Falun Gong’s teachings.
Dr Liu further stated, that between January 24 and 26 of 2004, during the Sino-France Culture Year activities, several tens of Falun Gong practitioners were detained and treated roughly by French police, only because of their wearing yellow scarves and/or clothing embroidered with the words ‘Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance’ and ‘Falun Dafa’. Apart from exerting pressure on the French government, it is very likely that this incident resulted from Chinese authorities’ misleading the international media. WOIPFG will continue to investigate the incident. The report is published on the WOIPFG website:
http://www.upholdjustice.org/NEWS/hotcase_22/ChinaFranceExchange.pdf
Posting date: 16/Feb/2004
Original article date: 14/Feb/2004
Category: Australian News
