Finland: Media and Human Rights Organizations Expose Visiting CCP Official's Crimes in the Persecution of Falun Gong

Etelä-Saimaa, the largest newspaper in Northern Finland, was one of the Finnish media that reported Liu Yunshan's role in the persecution of Falun Gong in China: instigating lies and hatred as Minister of Propaganda. Liu, a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of Chinese Communist Party (CCP), was visiting the country June 12 – 14, as part of his four-state visit in Europe.

In the front page article, Etelä-Saimaa published a picture to highlight the human rights violation marks that Liu couldn't cover up: Liu appeared to be uneasy with the Falun Gong practitioners' blue banner looming in the background.

As the Minister of Propaganda from 2002 to 2012, Liu actively coordinated the CCP's hatred campaigns to justify the persecution of Falun Gong. For example, he called the confiscation of Falun Gong truth-clarification materials “a firm attack on the penetration of the hostile forces” in January 2010.

A February 2001 award gala in the name of “struggling against Falun Gong” is one of the examples of his efforts in the persecution. Liu chaired the event attended by over 3,000 people and urged them to “fight against Falun Gong.”

Practitioners' protests of “Bring Liu Yunshan to Justice” followed Liu at almost every stop on his itinerary. The Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE covered practitioners' peaceful protests during Liu's visit in the city of Rovaniemi on its website.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) confirmed that it had received a letter from Amnesty International regarding Liu's crimes against humanity and crimes of torture, according to the YLE report. The same request was also submitted to the Prosecutor General of Finland.

The Finland chapter of Supporting Human Rights in China (SHRIC) announced a WOIPFG (World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong) report, in which a similar case was referenced. After 59-year-old Finnish resident Francois Bazaramba was found to be involved in the 1994 Rwanda genocide, a Finnish court sentenced him to life time imprisonment.

Human Rights Law Foundation, a Washington D.C. based association of lawyers, recommended that Finland and the international society handle Liu's case in a similar manner.

Ms. Chen Zhenping, a practitioner in China, has been in detention since her arrest in 2008. Her two daughters live in Rovaniemi. Ms. Jin Zhaoyu, daughter of Ms. Chen, told YLE that the efforts would continue, because “the persecution must end.”