Falun Gong Practitioners Continue Appeal at the Hong Kong Office in San Francisco Till Sham Trial Ends

(San Francisco, August 13, 2002) - Falun Gong practitioners in the Bay Area are echoing the efforts of practitioners in Hong Kong who are holding a 54-hour hunger strike against the sham trial of 16 fellow practitioners on the island.
Protesting against a trial which should have never occurred, Bay Area practitioners are doing a sit-in appeal in front of the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in San Francisco until the verdict of the trial will become available on Aug. 15.

Event: Sit-in Appeal to Hong Kong Office in San Francisco
Date: August 13-15, 2002
Time: 8 – 6:00 pm daily
Location: 130 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
Contact: Chun Lee 408.464.2120, Steve Ispas 408.489.5752
www.faluninfo.net

Background:

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture, but it is distinct and separate from other practices such as the religions of Buddhism and Taoism. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's President Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999, fearful of anything touching the hearts and minds of more citizens than the Communist Party. Since the persecution of Falun Gong began in China three years ago, Beijing has applied heavy pressure to Hong Kong to adopt its repressive policy against Falun Gong. Protests and appeals by Falun Gong practitioners have been markedly peaceful in nature both inside China and abroad. The police and legislators in Hong Kong, however, have gradually shown signs of adopting Beijing's oppressive stance on the practice during the last three years.

In response to Jiang's escalating assault on innocent Falun Gong practitioners, including his order to "shoot on sight," four Swiss practitioners whose Mainland visas had been cancelled chose to appeal close to China, in Hong Kong. On March 14, 2002, twelve Hong Kong practitioners joined the four Swiss to begin a quiet, three-day sit-in and hunger strike in front of the Peoples' Republic of China Liaison Office. Photographic and video documentation clearly illustrate that the practitioners appealed peacefully, posed no threat, and left ample room for pedestrian traffic. The police responded, barricading the area and causing a complete obstruction of the pavement, forcing pedestrian traffic into the street. A few hours later, dozens of policemen began dragging the practitioners into police vans. Excessive force was used, such as strangling and applying painful pressure to sensitive acupuncture points. Nine practitioners were injured. Ironically, the HK police put the practitioners on trial to face charges of obstruction and assaulting police. During the trial, however, the prosecutor could not produce a single third-party witness.
(法轮大法信息中心    Aug 14 2002 9:43AM)