Russia: An Invitation to a Press Conference held by Dafa Practitioners in St. Petersburg

Russian Falun Gong practitioners notified the media after the Russian Government cancelled their participation in a parade to celebrate the city of St. Petersburg’s 300th birthday:

As Falun Gong practitioners, we would like to give a beautiful present to St. Petersburg. Therefore, we spent a long time in preparing for a successful artistic performance. Up to this point, there was no single department or city government unit who would take responsibility for the decision to cancel Falun Gong practitioners’ participation. Besides, the representatives of the Falun Dafa Association did not receive any official documentation informing us of the cancellation of our activity. Rather, it was a verbal message, a so-called political decision made by upper management.

After several conversations with Russia’s legal department, Falun Gong practitioners who participated in the parade decided not to cause conflicts. Instead, they accepted the government’s decision in a cooperative manner. To our regret, however, even though everything was done according to the reached agreement, Falun Gong practitioners were told that the individual leaders in the Ministry of Domestic Affairs still had very negative opinions of us; this attitude was carried forward to the justice administration meeting on May 30. We felt very sorry because those opinions on public affairs further strengthen the negative views of Falun Gong that have arisen in Russia.

The issue of the Chinese authorities’ crackdown on the human rights of Falun Gong practitioners since July 1999, and the methods of persecution utilised, has been criticised by the international community, various governments and human rights organisations. Currently, in the United States and some European countries, lawsuits against Jiang Zemin have been instigated accusing him of committing crimes such as Genocide.

What has already caught the public’s attention is the pressure placed on foreign governments by the Chinese Consular Service abroad. Such behaviour is obviously interference in the domestic affairs of those countries involved, such as spreading rumours and compiling blacklists, etc. The purpose is to discredit Falun Gong. This has happened in Russia too, and such behaviour has caused inexplicable panic and social conflicts. This has been made very clear in both St. Petersburg and the entire state of Russia. It is such a pity that this attitude is adopted toward a peaceful, non-violent Falun Gong cultivation group in a respected country like Russia.

The Press Information Centre and St. Petersburg Falun Dafa Association invite you to participate in a press conference entitled: “Who benefits in discrediting Falun Gong in Russia?”

Time: One o’clock on 6 June
Address: Press centre, Suit 103, 23 Rubinstein Street, St. Petersburg
Contact Telephone: (812)156-82-41，314-31-16，162- 58-61

Translated from Chinese at http://yuanming.net/articles/200306/21395.html