Finnish Newspaper “Lapin Kansa” Reports on Dafa Practitioners’ Appeal at the Rovaniemi Airport during Luo Gan’s Arrival

12.9.2003

One of the main newspapers in Northern Finland, “Lapin Kansa”, ran an article on the front page about Falun Dafa practitioners’ demonstration at the Rovaniemi airport during Luo Gan’s visit. The article explained how the Chinese leader avoided the 22 practitioners who had come from around the world. He was taken to Santa Park along a byroad because he did not want to see practitioners. The headline of this article was: “Chinese Leader avoids a Meeting and disappears up the Side-road”. One newspaper reporter said that this kind of conduct was very unusual. She had never seen this happen at the airport before. According to the newspaper, Luo Gan is someone who is accused of being involved in the Tiananmen student massacre of 1989, and also in suppressing Falun Gong. Thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been sent to forced labour camps and mental hospitals without trial since 1999, when the persecution first began.

The report also contained an interview with a practitioner called Pirjo Svensson, who was born in Rovaniemi and is now living in Sweden. Pirjo told the paper that the conduct of the Chinese leader was that of a person with a bad conscience who is scared. She also told the newspaper how the Chinese regime put her on a "blacklist" and talked about how she was arrested in Thailand for five weeks last spring, as well as being finally banished from the country where she and her husband lived for 6 months of the year. She also talked about other violations (including physical assault and illegal arrest) that the Chinese authorities have used against her and other western practitioners two years ago, when they demonstrated peacefully on Tiananmen Square. The practitioner said that she still isn’t scared. She believes that justice will win, and that the Truth will always prevail.

The newspaper reported that Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a practice of mind and body, not a religion. They continued to report that practitioners learn some exercises, and that the practice is about improving body, character and moral standards, and that there are millions of practitioners around the world. The report reflected positively on the peaceful conduct of Falun Dafa practitioners, and let more and more people know the true nature of Falun Dafa.