Bulgaria: Practitioners Mark Seven Years of Persecution in China

An open-air exhibition and a demonstration of the torture methods used by the Chinese regime upon Falun Gong practitioners were shown on July 22nd in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia. The event was held to mark seven years of persecution in China by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which was started on July 20th 1999 by then CCP head Jiang Zemin.

Practitioners gave leaflets to passers-by containing information about Falun Gong and they exposed the facts of the atrocities by the Communist regime in China. Almost everyone stopped by the panels and signed the petition after learning that practitioners in China are killed in the 21st century for their beliefs in Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance. People were further shocked by the fact that the Chinese Communist Party uses the bodies of the practitioners for harvesting and selling organs on the international market for transplantation.

The scene was rounded out by a demonstration of torture methods used against practitioners, which left deep impressions on people passing by. A young man asked to take a photo of the demonstration, and policemen patrolling the park exclaimed, "Wow! It is quite realistic!" Children asked their parents about the demonstration, who in turn explained to them that this was now happening in China. Many of those who signed the petition were young, and some even didn’t need to hear the explanations: "We support you! We are against torture of people! This is appalling! May we sign?"

Re-enacting torture methods	Demonstrating the Falun Gong exercises
People came to find out more and sign the petition

Many Bulgarians said that Communism is evil, and they understood that this is why the Chinese Communist Party is persecuting this innocent group of people. Also, numerous people said they wanted to come to the practice site to learn the exercises, and some were determined that they would like to know more about the philosophy of Falun Dafa. Practitioners explained about the recent launch of the Clear Harmony website in Bulgarian and that they can find the information they are looking for there.

Many petition signatures were gathered during the event, and some people said it was the first time they heard about Falun Gong. Others had seen information on TV. One woman said that she received a leaflet in her mailbox and wanted to sign the petition, as she knew about the activities of Falun Gong from the leaflet.

Bulgarian practitioners asked the Municipal authorities for permission to hold a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese embassy in Sofia. Despite the fact that such an appeal was previously organised once on December 10th 2005 – on the international day for human rights – the deputy mayor of the city didn’t grant permission stating as a reason that the activity might disrupt public order and traffic. Practitioners sent a second letter asking for reconsideration of the decision, but the municipality categorically declared that such permission wouldn’t be given.

According to the practitioners, this decision is due to interference from the Chinese embassy, which has been quite intense and regular recently. A diplomatic note has already been sent once to the Foreign Ministry by Chinese Communist Party representatives. Despite conversations held with officials from the Foreign Ministry and municipal authorities on the subject of the atrocities of the Chinese communist regime, so far practitioners have not received support.

Nonetheless, the open-air exhibition marking the seven years of repression by the Communist regime in China was a big success and gave many people the opportunity to understand the nature of Falun Gong and to condemn the CCP.