Italy: Exposing the Persecution to the People of Florence

Every Saturday during July and August 2007, Falun Gong practitioners in Florence gathered at the Piazza S. Croce and Piazza Repubblica to tell local people and tourists about Falun Gong and the brutal organ harvesting campaign being waged against practitioners by the Chinese communist regime.

Many passers-bystopped to read the information boards on which the torture that the Chinese Communist regime has inflicted upon Falun Gong practitioners was illustrated. Eight years have elapsed since the persecution started on July 20, 1999, yet many Italians and visitors still were not aware of it. While the death toll is hard to ascertain due to the Chinese regime's information blockade, statistics based on the information known to the outside world indicate that more than 3,000 Falun Gong practitioners have died in the persecution. There is also strong evidence and reports from witnesses indicating that the Chinese regime harvests organs from living Falun Gong practitioners for profit.

A Mexican reporter who was taking a vacation in Italy said he would pass this news to the newspaper with which he was associated. A group of visitors from Mexico came back to the information booth several times asking practitioners, "What can we do to stop this massacre?"

Many people who saw the photos and information about the persecution were shocked. A gentleman said loudly, "I would like to help you stop this persecution very much... I will bring all the photos I took today back to my country and figure out some way to help you."

As Florence is a famous artistic city, it is visited by many tourists from around the world. Practitioners prepared and handed out flyers in various languages, including Italian, French, German, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Portuguese and Chinese.

Several tourist groups from China accepted Chinese newspapers which introduced the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party and the cruel persecution in China. While some of them started reading the newspaper as soon after they received it, some hid it for future reading. All of them heard Falun Gong music.

A Chinese young lady who spoke English very well said she was told (by Chinese officials) not to accept the informational material. However, she asked practitioners many questions, trying to verify the information she had read on the Internet about Falun Gong.

Practitioners who participated in the activity said they would continue their efforts so that the persecution by the Chinese communist regime can be stopped.