Austria: Practitioners Raise Awareness about Falun Dafa in Saint Pölten

Falun Dafa practitioners held an Information Day in Saint Pölten, Austria on Saturday, June 4, 2022. They demonstrated the exercises, introduced Falun Dafa and collected signatures on a petition to help stop the ongoing persecution of Falun Dafa in China.

Practitioners held an Information Day and introduced Falun Dafa to locals in Saint Pölten, Austria on June 4, 2022.

Locals sign the petition after learning how Falun Dafa is persecuted in China.

Saint Pölten is one of the oldest cities in Austria. Its Baroque architectural buildings and various museums make it a popular tourist attraction. Local residents were also enjoying the fine weather, shopping at stores or enjoying a cup of coffee.

When the practitioners started demonstrating the Falun Dafa exercises, many people stopped at the booth to learn about it. Locals happily accepted Falun Dafa truth-clarification materials and asked about the free online Falun Dafa classes.

Passersby stopped and listened as practitioners talked about the ongoing persecution. Practitioners in China are persecuted simply for believing in Falun Dafa and are illegally detained. The petition was filled quickly with signatures. Some tourists saved Falun Dafa’s informational website (www.falundafa.org) and researched about Falun Dafa on their cellphones.

A man said that he practiced martial arts and was very interested in learning more about Falun Dafa. Many people riding bicycles stopped and listened to learn more. A gentleman watched practitioners for a time, and a lady asked about Falun Dafa’s teachings.

A couple hurried over when the activity wasabout to end and asked to sign the petition. They said, “We need to help stop the forced live organ harvesting in China.”

Background: What Is Falun Dafa?
Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings—which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance—and learned the five exercises have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline's growing popularity as a threat to the CCP's atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.Under Jiang's personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.