Germany: Large-Scale Appeal for the Return of Illegally Detained Practitioner Lin Wenrong to Germany

In the morning of March 22 2003, a large parade was held in the city of Dusseldorf. The parade was an appeal for help to rescue Lin Wenrong and other friends and relatives of German Falun Gong practitioners, who are being persecuted in China. Around one hundred Falun Gong practitioners from Germany, Holland, Sweden and Taiwan took part. Holding large photos of Lin Wenrong and other victims of persecution in China, practitioners started the procession from the city’s Central Train Station and walked for a few hours until they arrived at Heine Square in the city centre. There also happened to be an anti-war demonstration in progress that afternoon. The street was very crowded and more than a thousand leaflets were distributed within an hour.

In the afternoon, practitioners held a Falun Gong information Day in the city centre. Some practitioners demonstrated the exercises while others explained to the passers-by about Falun Gong. The carefully designed exhibition boards, showing the history of Falun Gong and the Falun Gong exercises, attracted a large number of people. There were also pictures and articles exposing the brutal persecution of Falun Gong by the Chinese regime. Lots of people carefully looked at the exhibition boards, read the article about Lin Wenrong and then signed the petition.

Many people came out on that day for the anti-war demonstration and they also got to learn the facts about Falun Gong. As an old German gentleman said,” I thought at the beginning that they were sitting there for peace, but later I learnt that they are appealing for their Falun Gong friends who are being persecuted in China. It’s a great shame for a government to persecute such a peaceful group of people. One can easily see how wrong that government is.”

When a German lady learned that practitioners were appealing for their friends, she took hold of a practitioner’s arm and said, ”I will always think of you!” Another lady was very shocked after learning what happened to practitioners in Chinese prisons. She held back her tears and could not come to terms with the fact that people are being killed in China for practising such beautiful exercises. She asked for details about the suffering of the practitioners in China and showed great interest in the Falun Gong exercises. She left with Falun Gong materials and the address of the local exercise site.

Many Chinese people also passed by and saw the big banner bearing the words “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance”. A visiting Chinese scholar said that he couldn’t understand the Jiang regime’s persecution of Falun Gong and Falun Gong practitioners, who just want to have a healthy body and be good persons. Practitioners told him about their own great physical and spiritual changes gained from practising Falun Gong, and how it is jealousy that led Jiang to persecute Falun Gong. This scholar spent quite a long time talking to practitioners and felt that what they said was very logical. He happily took two different truth-clarifying Video-CDs and many other materials saying that he would study them carefully.

There were always people stopping to see the exercise demonstration, take leaflets and ask the practitioners some questions. Local media also interviewed practitioners. More and more people know Falun Gong, sympathise with Falun Gong and are against the persecution.

Chinese version available at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200303/18619.html