Slovakia: Telling the Slovakian People about Ten Years of Persecution

On 20th July 2009, practitioners in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, organised a rally on SNP square to commemorate ten years of persecution against Falun Gong in China. They handed out leaflets and talked to people about how the Chinese Communist Party has used all means at its disposal to force Falun Gong practitioners to renounce their belief in Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance, Falun Gong's guiding principles.

One older man said: “I live near the Chinese embassy. I see your protests there every week. Now I have come to sign your petition. I hope it will help [to stop the persecution].” More than 150 people signed a petition that day calling for an end to the persecution.

Many young people were interested in why Falun Gong is persecuted. Practitioners told them that, even though it is difficult to comprehend, the persecution was started because the head of the Chinese Communist Party was jealous of Falun Gong's popularity. Former CCP leader Jiang Zemin launched a nationwide persecution against Falun Gong after 100 million people were practising it in 1999. Since then, thousands have been tortured and killed just for practising this peaceful exercise system and living by the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance. Older people in Slovakia found it easier to understand as they have lived through Communist oppression.

There was widepsread media coverage of the day's activities, with a practitioner being inteviewed on Slovak Radio, and media agencies and a TV station coming to report on the events. This coverage meant that many more people got the chance to learn about Falun Gong and the human rights atrocities against practitioners in China.

Widespread media coverage meant many people got to find out more about Falun Gong