Practitioners Appeal to the European Parliament Regarding the Paris incidents - MEPs Express their Support

During the recent assembly of Members of the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Falun Gong practitioners appealed to the MEPs and held a press conference in front of the European Parliament regarding the unjust detention of Falun Dafa practitioners in Paris during Hu Jintao’s official visit to France.

Strasbourg is the location of the European Parliament. Recently, members of the European Parliament assembled to discuss and prepare topics for the 2004 United Nations Human Rights Commission, including matters concerning the Jiang regime’s persecution of Falun Gong. Practitioners from France, Belgium, Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark and other European countries travelled to the parliament building and hung up banners, including one reading “Uphold France’s Spirit of Liberty”. They called on the MEPs to pay serious attention to the spread of China’s persecution of Falun Gong to France. MEPs Mrs Nelly Maes and Mr Dell’Alba attended the press conference to express their support.

Mrs Maes, an MEP from Belgium, expressed her regret about the unjust detention of Falun Dafa practitioners by the Paris police. She said, “The abuse of Falun Gong practitioners is an obvious violation of human rights. I have never seen such a group of peaceful people as Falun Gong practitioners. When I visited China, I raised many questions about Falun Gong to the Chinese officials. They became very angry upon hearing the word Falun Gong. This made me suspicious. I can see that Falun Gong practitioners are not criminals and therefore should not treated as such: not in China, certainly not in France.”

MEP Mr Dell’Alba from Italy said that the arrests of Falun Gong practitioners by the French police were due to pressure from China and that he will do his best to uphold the principle of democracy: “The Chinese government and Chinese embassies in Europe have tried very hard to stop people raising the human rights issue in China. If there are any Chinese delegations visiting the European Parliament, I will do my utmost to raise the issue. We are going to organise an official visit to Beijing in March and I will use this opportunity to raise the human rights topic.”

Outside the parliament building, the practitioners’ appeal and exercise demonstration was peaceful and serene. Local media reporters were present and MEPs from different countries stopped to get more information from the practitioners. Lots of practitioners met MEPs from their own countries who said they would pay close attention to the recent incidents in France.