Switzerland: World Falun Dafa Day Celebrations

On May 13th 2003, to celebrate the fourth “World Falun Dafa Day” and the 11th anniversary of Master Li beginning to publicly teach Falun Gong, practitioners in Switzerland gathered at Folansi Square in the famous cultural town of Luxon. They demonstrated the exercises, introduced Falun Gong to passers-by and told people about the brutal persecution of 100 million innocent Falun Gong practitioners that is happening in China.

The activities in Luxon were held on a weekday and many practitioners took a day off work to attend. Although it was raining, they persisted in practising the exercises and sending forth righteous thoughts. Many passers-by were moved by this scene. A signature collection was organised to rescue Swedish practitioner Mrs. Pirjo Svensson, who is being unlawfully detained by Thailand authorities under pressure from the Jiang regime, despite stern requests to free her from the Swedish government. Practitioners hope that these signatures will push the United Nations and the European Union into taking action in the rescue efforts for Mrs. Svensson. Some practitioners who came from German-speaking regions in Switzerland also participated wholeheartedly, despite being unable to speak French. By six in the evening, several thousand signatures had been collected.

To let more people know about Falun Dafa and the persecution in China while gathering signatures on the public square, some of the practitioners divided themselves into several small groups and visited Luxon University, Chinese restaurants and the International Olympic Committee. At lunchtime, practitioners went to two big canteens in Luxon University and started going from table to table collecting signatures and telling people the facts. Almost all the students welcomed them and enthusiastically signed the petitions. A group of Western practitioners went to many Chinese restaurants to distribute leaflets and Video-CDs. One restaurant owner said his mother in China used to suffer from many illnesses. After practising Falun Gong, she recovered and found the exercises very good. But since the persecution began in July 1999, his mother succumbed to pressure and was too scared to practise. Her health then deteriorated again. This man said he had also heard that Falun Gong practitioners are currently suing Jiang Zemin on the charge of genocide and said, “That’s great! I support them.”

Just before concluding the activities, Swiss practitioners took a group photo at the beautiful Lemond Lake. With deep respect, everyone chorused: “Greetings to you, Master Li!” and “Wishing Master Li a very Happy Birthday!”

Translated from Chinese at http://yuanming.net/articles/200305/20306.html