Swedish Practitioner Detained in Thailand Without Cause, Swedish Government Demands Immediate Explanation

Mrs. Pirjo Svensson who has been detained without reason and threatened with deportation due to the Jiang regime's pressure on the Thailand government

On April 29 2003, the Thai police searched the residence of Mrs. Pirjo Svensson, a Swedish citizen and Falun Gong practitioner. They arrested Mrs. Svensson and sent her to the Immigration Office, where she was told that she would be deported. Mrs. Svensson firmly refused. This is yet another example of the Jiang regime's extending its persecution of Falun Gong overseas.

The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Embassy in Bangkok have expressed their deep concern over the issue and demanded "an immediate explanation" from the Thai Foreign Ministry in the early morning hours of April 30. Falun Gong is a legally registered organisation in Thailand, and Mrs. Svensson holds a valid visa for staying in Thailand.

According to Mrs. Svensson's account, immigration officers came to her residence at about 8:15 a.m., asking for travel documents. The officers showed them a search warrant and confiscated all of her Falun Gong related material, including books and VCDs. The search warrant was written in Thai, so neither Mr. nor Mrs. Svensson were able to read it. They were then taken to the Immigration Office.

The Immigration officers told Falun Gong practitioners who went to visit the Svensson that they knew Mrs. Svensson had done nothing wrong, but they had received orders from their superiors which they had to execute, referring to incarcerating and deporting Mrs. Svensson.

Mrs. Svensson enjoys spending time in Thailand and accompanies her husband on yearly, three-month long business trips. While in Thailand, she introduces to the public the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution that is happening in China. Jiang's regime has been looking for an excuse to remove her from Thailand for quite a while.

Immigration officials claimed that Mrs. Svensson had VCDs in her possession, and that her distributing these VCDs might cause disharmony in the relationship between Thailand and China, as China might accuse Thailand of indirectly supporting Falun Gong. Another immigration official continually asked the Dafa practitioners that came to visit Mrs. Svensson if they intended to protest against China, raise banners during the Chinese Premier's visit to Thailand regarding the SARS epidemic, or if they planned to hold protests during the Asian Economic Symposium.

At the police station, the Thai police looked over some of the VCDs that they confiscated from Mrs. Svensson. They then pointed at some pictures that depicted Dafa practitioners being tortured by Chinese police and declared that the VCDs contained "violence." They used this as an excuse to detain Mrs. Svensson.

It was pointed out that this method of arresting someone and then finding evidence later, and using Mrs. Svensson's truth-clarifying VCDs as an excuse to detain her is something that is typical of the Jiang regime's tactics. The Thai government's actions of currying favour with the Jiang regime by persecuting Falun Gong practitioners is shameful and immoral. What kind of excuse did the Chinese regime give to the Thai government for these actions? According to the Thai news organisation Thaivisa.com's report on May 1, the Thai police were concerned that Mrs. Svensson was planning to protest during the Chinese Premier's visit.

Currently, because Mrs. Svensson refuses to leave Thailand voluntarily, she is being held at a detention centre. The conditions inside the detention centre are poor, holding 30 people within an area of 20 square meters. They are without beds and are constantly pressured by the Thai police.

The Swedish media has reacted strongly to Mrs. Svensson's arrest, the story making the headlines in Swedish newspapers. Even though this incident was instigated by the Jiang regime, the Thai government must bear some responsibility for caving in to the Chinese government's pressure and resorting to conducting themselves in such a ridiculous, illegal manner. They are deserving of condemnation from people and countries all over the world who believe in the rule of law.

Falun Gong is a legal entity recognised by Thai law, but in recent years the Jiang regime has repeatedly pressured the Thai government regarding Falun Gong. In 2001, Thai practitioners were forced to cancel an international experience sharing conference due to pressure from the Thai police and Foreign Affairs Ministry.

We call upon the people, governments and media around the world to condemn the criminal action of the Jiang regime in using diplomatic pressure to persecute Falun Gong practitioners. It is our hope that international pressure will cause the Thai authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Swedish citizen Mrs. Svensson, and lead the Jiang regime to cease its persecution of Falun Gong.