Australia: Practitioners Appeal in Front of Chinese Consulate to Demand Immediate Release of Falun Gong Practitioners Illegally Detained in Jilin Province

Sydney Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate to demand the immediate release of Falun Gong practitioners illegally detained in a Jilin prison. A representative of Falun Gong practitioners pointed out that at least three Australian citizens' relatives have died as a result of the persecution in China. Moreover, more than 10 Australian citizens' relatives are still being detained in jails in China and suffering from persecution. Their lives are in danger at any moment. The Falun Gong practitioners called on more people to oppose this unprecedented, brutal persecution.

Sydney Falun Gong spokeswoman Ms. Kay first described the situation of more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners who are being detained in Jilin City Prison. According to initial investigations conducted by the World Organisation to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, she said that Chengjun Liu was severely tortured to critical condition by Jilin City police, and his family members are being monitored by the police to prevent them from revealing the truth to the outside world. More than 100 Falun Gong practitioners who are being detained in Jilin City Prison are on a group hunger strike to protest Jiang's brutal persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. We are holding this press conference and rally to demand that China immediately release all the Falun Gong practitioners being detained in Jilin City Prison.

Representative from the "Organisation to Urgently Rescue Relatives of Australian Residents and Citizens" Richard Chen said, "I was often asked whether the stories are real when I told people about the persecution in China. As a matter of fact, three Australian citizens' relatives have been tortured to death in China: one is Australian citizen Ms. Guilin Ma's Mother, one is Wenyong Chen, husband of an Australian citizen, and the other one is Mr. Ming Ouyang, brother of an Australian citizen. Moreover, more than 10 relatives of Australian citizens are still being detained in Chinese jails and suffering from the brutal persecution; they face danger at any moment. My brother Ruichang Chen is among those who are being detained. We need to let more people know the truth of this persecution and call on more people to oppose it."

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yuefang Tao also called for the urgent rescue of the Falun Gong practitioners in Jilin City Prison. She said that her two sisters also suffered from inhuman treatment because of their belief in Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance. They were arrested and tortured many times, and were forced to flee from their homes. They were arrested again one year later, and they were illegally sentenced to one year and eight year jail terms respectively.

According to information provided by the Falun Dafa Information Centre, based on incomplete statistics, more than 800 Falun Gong practitioners have died as a result of the persecution, and thousands upon thousands have been illegally detained since Jiang launched this brutal persecution against Falun Gong in 1999.

Reporters from AAP, NTD TV and the Epoch Times covered the press conference, and AFP and 2SM interviewed practitioners by phone.