The Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Swedish Embassy in Bangkok sent a note about this incident to the Thailand Ministry of Foreign Affairs on April 30th, filing an official Swedish protest, requesting the release of Mrs. Pirjo Svensson from detention in Thailand, and demanding an immediate explanation into the detention. Several major Swedish media outlets reported immediately on the incident and emphasised Mrs. Svensson’s innocence. Members of the European Parliament, Human Rights organisations in different countries and Swedish citizens wrote letters to the King of Thailand and the Thai Premier to appeal for the immediate release Mrs. Svensson.
As the Thailand government have not explained the reason for Mrs. Svensson’s detention to the Swedish government, even though she has been detained now for a month, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned high level Thai government officials to Sweden to discuss the situation, and to adopt even tougher diplomatic tactics. Below is a news report from the 30th May.
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Sweden to Carry a tougher Stance toward Thailand
(Published on 17:21, 30 May, 2003)
From the Swedish TT News Agency
The Swedish government is to carry a tougher stance against Thailand after the Gothenburg Falun Gong practitioner, Mrs. Pirjo Svensson, was arrested and has been detained for the past month.
The Swedish Ambassador in Thailand, Jan Nordlander, said to a Swedish News Agency that “This is an infringement upon human rights.”
This incident will cause dispute between the two countries
Over the past month, during which Mrs. Svensson’s VISA has been cancelled and she has been detained at a jail in Bangkok, the effect of Swedish pressure on Thailand cannot be seen.
The Swedish government has already requested an explanation on the detention, raised an official government protest, and requested that Thailand immediately release Mrs. Svensson. The Asian Officer at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also summoned the highest-level Thai officials to Stockholm.
Jan Nordlander, the Swedish Ambassador in Bangkok, said, “We have contacted them many times by phone. However, it has not helped.”
The Swedish Embassy was told that they would receive an official explanation but the Thailand government has not kept its promise.
The Ambassador requested a meeting with an Officer from the Thailand Immigration Office on Monday. He has decided to strongly request the immediate release of Mrs. Svensson via the Thai Immigration Officer and also to request for her VISA to be returned to her.
The Ambassador said, “I will utilise legal proceedings in Thailand. This is totally against the law in Thailand, in which the laws prohibit persecution resulting from one’s religion or belief.”
He thinks that the way Thailand has handled the incident will cause, what he calls a “mutual dispute” crisis.
Falun Gong is not banned in Thailand. In China, however, Falun Gong is banned and its practitioners are detained and killed.
Mrs. Pirjo was arrested on the 29th of April. That same day, the Chinese Premier was visiting Thailand to attend an international conference on SARS.
Therefore, it seems that this detention is related to Thailand government’s pleasing Chinese authorities.
http://www.dn.se/DNet/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=147&a=146483
Translated from Chinese at http://yuanming.net/articles/200305/20869.html
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