Sweden: The Chinese Consulate's Attempts to stop Falun Gong Broadcasts are in Vain

On September the 18th 2003, Swedish practitioners held a press conference at Gothenburg’s Civic Hall to let people know that the Chinese Consulate has made several attempts to stop the broadcasting of the programme “Falun Gong Time” on Swedish radio.

The host of a local broadcasting station, a representative from the non-governmental organization “International Women’s Organization of Freedom and Peace”, the host of “Falun Gong Time” and the Vice-Chairman of the Swedish Falun Dafa Association gave speeches at the conference. All of these representatives condemned the Chinese officials’ attempts to spread their terror tactics to Sweden, by controlling the Swedish media and restraining the freedom of speech of the Swedish people.

In July, the Chinese consul official in Gothenburg went to the local radio station and asked them to stop broadcasting “Falun Gong Time”, in the name of ‘maintaining a good relationship with China.’ After being rejected by the station, they contacted the management committee of the local radio station and tried to have the broadcasting cancelled through administrative means. After being rejected again, they contacted the local government in Gothenburg to try to stop the sponsorship of the Falun Gong programme.

This event has brought indignation from all walks of life. Falun Gong practitioners officially reported the incident to the police on September the 15th. The incident is now under investigation.

At the press conference, he host of “Falun Gong Time”, Yvonne Kleberg, explained what happened during this incident and also told the audience about the persecution in China.

The head of the Gothenburg radio station that broadcasts Falun Gong Time, Mr. Hirschi, said, “We think that this is a severe invasion of Swedish people’s freedom of speech. To me, freedom of speech is a beautiful symbol of democracy in our country. It is even more important than the right to vote.” He expressed with anger that the consulate officials’ actions were serious and intolerable. He finally stressed that no matter what the Chinese Consulate says, the broadcasting of “Falun Gong Time” will not be stopped.

A-L Björneberg from the “International Women’s Organization for Freedom and Peace” strongly condemned the Chinese Consulate’s behaviour in Sweden. She said, “Such a thing happening in Sweden has made me feel angry. They are so afraid of Falun Gong that they even use these methods in our country to influence us.”

A representative from the Swedish Falun Dafa Association introduced the global lawsuits against Jiang Zemin, the instigator of the persecution against Falun Gong. He also explained that Luo Gan, a head of the “610 Office”*, was the subject of several lawsuits during his recent visit to Europe.

The attendees all expressed that China’s dictatorship would not be allowed to attack Sweden, where human rights are respected.

*The "610 Office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

Translated from Chinese at http://www.yuanming.net/articles/200309/24377.html