Macedonia: Public, Media and Government of Macedonia are Supportive of Falun Gong (pictures)

During Dafa practitioners’ 5-day visit to Macedonia, between the dates of the 11th and the 16th of August, media interest in Falun Gong was very good. Macedonian state TV, two local TV stations and one radio station broadcasted reports about Falun Gong and also interviewed practitioners. Through this, many people in Macedonia learned the facts about Falun Gong and the persecution in China in a very short period of time. Practitioners also met government officials and they were very friendly and quick in offering their assistance. Many people accepted Dafa flyers and, for the first time, saw the harmonious Falun Gong exercises. Some asked to learn the exercises immediately.

Local children were very keen to learn the Falun Dafa exercises

In the ancient city of Ohrid, the cultural and spiritual centre of Macedonia, practitioners visited the city government. The Mayor was not present so they talked to the Mayor’s secretary and she advised them to contact the local media so that more people would know that Dafa practitioners were in Ohrid. She also told practitioners that they should tell the media where exercise demonstrations would take place so that people could come and join in the activities. Practitioners left an information package for the Mayor, and called the numbers on a list of contacts that the secretary had given them. Over the following two days, two local TV stations came to the Falun Gong activities, interviewed practitioners and featured a report about Falun Gong. Afterwards, there were times when people even recognised practitioners as they passed them on the street. Practitioners knew that the truth about Falun Dafa was rooted in people’s minds.

A couple of days later, the local Ohrid radio station invited a practitioner to give a live interview. The questions asked ranged from “what is Falun Gong?” to the questions about the brutal persecution in China. In this way, listeners learned about the crimes of Jiang Zemin and his regime, as well as the lawsuits brought against them for genocide and crimes against humanity. After the interview, one elderly radio station employee asked if people his age could practise Falun Gong and left with a positive answer and more information.

Macedonian people learn more about Falun Dafa

After Ohrid, practitioners visited Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Even there, when practitioners were practising the exercises in a park, one lady passed by and said: "O, I saw you on the TV in Ohrid; what you are doing is very good!" That same evening, there was a football match near to where practitioners were practising the exercises and, as a result, many people saw the exercise demonstration. An elderly man passed by a couple of times. He said that he liked the exercise music and took flyers to give to his family. Some others also asked for more information.

The next day practitioners contacted the state TV station and they invited practitioners to be interviewed that same day. The TV station’s report was shown on a popular morning programme.

TV reports on practitioners' activities

In the evening practitioners went to the Chinese embassy to send forth righteous thoughts. Practitioners felt that this was very important. They met a group of Chinese people in the city and gave them some flyers and Video-CDs. These Chinese people were surprised to see westerners practising Falun Gong and asked about their experiences in Falun Dafa cultivation.

Practitioners also talked to other journalists and gave them information packs together with videos and CDs that revealed the facts. One journalist later said that he was shocked by the persecution, and asked how such a thing could happen in this day and age. Another journalist even sent a couple of information packs to his colleagues at other newspapers.

Government officials at the Foreign Ministry and other offices were all very kind and supportive and offered their help. Practitioners told them they would help us a lot if they spread the truth about Falun Gong to other government officials, and they promised to do this. A representative of the Ministry of Justice was very interested in the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin. He asked to receive regular information from practitioners and agreed that it was about time something was done to stop this persecution.