Several hours before the arrival of the Chinese Premier for the Asian Summit on SARS 2003, Thailand immigration officers took Mrs. Pirjo Svensson, a Swedish Falun Gong practitioner, into custody in the early hours of April 29 2003. Police used a search warrant, written in Thai even though Mr. and Mrs. Svensson could not read it, to gain entry into their home and confiscate Falun Gong materials including books and Video-CDs. The police also refused to show the search warrant again when a Thai Falun Gong practitioner inquired about it later. Mrs. Svensson was then taken to the Immigration Bureau and was later told that she was going to be deported. During her detention, when she asked the immigration officers about the nature of any charges against her and about her rights, neither were explained to her.
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Both the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Embassy in Thailand expressed serious concern over the detention and possible deportation of Mrs. Svensson and demanded an immediate explanation from the Thai Foreign Ministry. Shocked by news of Mrs. Svensson's arrest, Swedish media headlined the story in several newspapers.
Taking no notice of the peaceful reputation of Falun Gong, the Thai government gave way to the Jiang regime in a ridiculous manner by breaking their own laws. This shameful behaviour is a black mark on the international image of the “Land of the Free”. We call upon people, governments and media around the world to condemn the criminal actions of the Jiang regime, we call on the Thai government to release the Swedish citizen Pirjo Svensson immediately and unconditionally, and we appeal to the Jiang regime to stop the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.
Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200305/19986.html
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