The Gothenburg Post: Condemning the Persecution of Falun Gong Practitioners

The Gothenburg Post ran an article by Pirjo Svensen on 26 June, 2003. The following is the English translation.

My arrest in Thailand is a concrete example of how the Chinese government persecutes foreign Falun Gong practitioners and puts pressure on other countries.

I am a Falun Gong practitioner. On April 29, the Chinese Prime Minister paid a state visit to Thailand. On that day, I was arrested in my house in Bangkok. The Thai government wanted to deport me and revoked my visa. Later, I learned that the Chinese government had pressured the Thai government on this matter.

I am innocent of any wrongdoing and did not violate any law. Therefore, I filed an appeal and was detained in a detention centre in Bangkok for five weeks. I am grateful to those people who expressed their concern and extended assistance to me during that difficult time.

This kind of persecution has taken place in Europe as well. In Sweden, the Chinese Embassy has attempted to persuade the Swedish government and other organisations not to support us.

In Denmark, Falun Gong practitioners were not permitted from taking part in cultural festivals.

It is important for the Swedish government and the European Union firmly resist this kind of pressure in order to preserve democracy in the world for our children.

In the detention centre, I thought about thousands and thousands of Falun Gong practitioners who were being detained and brutally tortured in China. I also thought about Charles Li, a United States citizen who was arrested earlier this year when he returned to China to visit his relatives.

In China, Li was sentenced to three years imprisonment on a false charge. Since 27th May, he has been on a hunger strike and was tortured and force-fed.

Today, in the United States, Germany, France and Switzerland, lawsuits have been filed against former Chinese dictator Jiang Zemin and the “610 office” (a Chinese Gestapo like organisation, which was established for the sole purpose of persecuting Falun Gong practitioners) on charges of violating human rights, brutality, and genocide.

I hope the whole world can condemn this brutal persecution that is taking place in China. Let us join hands to end this persecution.

Pirjo Svensson

Translated from Chinese at http://yuanming.net/articles/200306/21822.html