Yoko Kaneko Rescue Committee Holds Press Conference at Aichi County Government Reporters Club

At 3 p.m. on March 20, 2003, Falun Gong practitioners and practitioners from Tokyo held a press conference at the Reporters' Club in the Aichi County government building, calling on the Aichi County government and Aichi people to actively help rescue Mrs. Yoko Kaneko. Tokai TV, Yomiuri Newspaper and other media attended. A few weeks ago, Aichi county practitioners presented a petition letter to help rescue Yoko Kaneko to the Aichi County Council.

Mrs. Yoko Kaneko was arrested last May in Beijing while distributing Falun Gong truth-clarifying materials. Later she was sentenced to 18 months of forced labour. She is still in detention and is reportedly facing life threatening conditions.

During the press conference, representative from Yoko Kaneko Rescue Committee reported the series of activities the committee launched to rescue Kaneko. Practitioner Wu Lily from Tokyo talked about her sister who was still jailed in China and experiencing both mental and physical torture. She exposed the unimaginably brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and hoped the Japanese government and media would pay more attention to help rescue Yoko Kaneko.

After the press conference, practitioners exchanged experiences of the event and agreed that more truth-clarification to the Aichi County council and City Council still needed to be done. Practitioners hope to manifest enormous compassion to help the officials recognise the evil persecution from their hearts. If they understand the persecution is not acceptable by the standards of both man and heaven, they will place themselves on the right side.