United States: Memorial Held in San Francisco Chinatown to Mourn Mr. Liu Chengjun

At 1 p.m. on January 11, Falun Gong practitioners and the "Chinese Press Freedom and Human Rights League" held a memorial at the "Garden Corner" plaza in the San Francisco Chinatown to remember Mr. Liu Chengjun. Liu was a Falun Gong practitioner from Changchun City in Jilin Province who was tortured to death by the Jiang regime. The American practitioners called for Jiang Zemin and the Changchun police officers who were responsible for Mr. Liu's death to be brought to justice.

Banners	Reading out the memorial statement
Passers-by watching the truth-clarifying display boards	Memorial held in front of the Garden Corner Plaza
Representative of local practitioners, Ms. Yu Li	Miss Yeongching Foo giving speech

On March 5 2002, to save people from the Jiang regime's poisonous lies, Mr. Liu Chengjun participated in tapping into the 8-channel cable television network in Changchun and aired Falun Gong truth-clarifying videos which expose the real story of the staged "Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation" to the public and told people the facts about the persecution of Falun Gong.

Jiang Zemin panicked at this and personally issued the order to "kill these Falun Gong practitioners without pardon." As one of the main participants, Mr. Liu was abducted and unlawfully sentenced to 19 years in prison. After 21 months of ruthless torture and abuse, Mr. Liu passed away on December 26, 2003.

The memorial host Mr. Ma Youzhi said in a statement, "Today, we hold a memorial here to remember Mr. Liu Chengjun who sacrificed his life to break through Jiang's regime's information blockage, to uphold people's rights of getting information, and to safeguard justice and conscience of the human society."

Mr. Ma said what Liu Chengjun did was to tell people the facts that Falun Gong teaches people to be good and to let people know about the real story of the "Tiananmen Square Self-Immolation" staged by the Jiang regime to frame Falun Gong. Mr. Liu's death resulted from the Jiang regime's violations of citizens' freedom of speech basic rights. Jiang's regime did not only violate China's Constitution, but also violated the United Nations Declaration. The regime will be held responsible for all crimes they have committed.

Ma Youzhi pointed out, "Mr. Liu Chengjun's story will awaken more people. Let's express our deep respect to this hero for sacrificing his life to uphold people's rights of getting information."

Falun Gong practitioner, Ms. Yu Li who drove more than two hours to attend the memorial stated, "When the grievous news of Mr. Liu's death came, heaven and earth wept; the universe was furious. Mr. Liu used his life to spread the real story, to resist the enforced persecution, to uphold his belief in truth and to wake the kind-hearted people. His selfless, heroic feat will be always remembered in history."

Ms. Yu said, "The Jiang regime's mouthpiece media are full of lies defaming Falun Gong. Their crimes of torturing and killing Falun Gong practitioners were covered up. Under this circumstance, Mr. Liu Chengjun and other Falun Gong practitioners intercepted cable TV network to air programs that reveal the truth. This was to safeguard citizens' rights of belief that are ensured by the Constitution. It was to protect people's rights of getting information and to uphold human morality and justice. We are unable to hold a solemn farewell ceremony for Mr. Liu. We hope that all kind-hearted people over the world would observe a minute of silence to mourn for Mr. Liu."

Charles Li's fiancée, Miss Yeong-ching Foo said, "Mr. Liu Chengjun risked his life to peacefully tap into the TV network to air Falun Gong truth-clarifying programs which exposed the lies that Jiang's regime used to justify its persecution and allowed millions of people to learn about the truth of Falun Gong. Just like Mr. Liu Chengjun, Charles Li gave up his comfortable life in the United States and risked his life to go to China and tried to clarify the facts to the Chinese people. However, on March 21 2003, the Jiang regime sentenced him to three years in prison for 'planning' to inform people the persecution of Falun Gong by means of tapping into a TV network. He is now imprisoned in Nanjing Prison, where he was beaten up and is subjected to forced brainwashing. He is suffering both physical and mental tortures."

Yeong-ching said, "Mr. Liu Chengjun was tortured to death. I don't want to see more good people who are kind and brave just like him being tortured to death. I call upon all people to reach out your helping hands to stop this persecution and rescue all Falun Gong practitioners who are imprisoned."

On that day, when practitioners had just set up the display boards, many people came to find out about Liu Chengjun's death. When practitioners distributed truth-clarifying materials, some people took the initiative to ask for Video-CDs that Mr. Liu aired in Changchun.

A passer-by called Mr. Li, said that he knew clearly that the Chinese communist party has a habit of lying. In China, people are not allowed to express views different to the Party's. When he heard that Jiang's regime has already extended their persecution to other countries, he said indignantly, "This is a democratic country where justice is upheld. We do not allow them to act violently." He said that he admired Mr. Liu Chengjun very much. He also made a deep bow in front of Liu Chengjun's photo.

THe Jiang regime's severe persecution of Falun Gong is still going on. In Jilin Prison alone, where Mr. Liu was detained, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners' lives are in danger. Regarding this, we once again call for all kind people who have a sense of justice to continue to pay attention to these practitioners and stop a tragedy like Mr. Liu's from occurring again. We also call for an end to the persecution by bringing the chief perpetrator to justice and immediately releasing all imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners.