During President Hu Jintao's visit to France, a series of unlawful arrests, detention and rough treatment of Falun Gong practitioners took place in Paris. These practitioners, from several different countries, did nothing illegal but were arrested simply for wearing Falun Dafa clothing or being with other Falun Dafa practitioners.
On February 2, Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners rallied to protest these unlawful treatments. Practitioners pointed that this unusual behaviour by the French police was clearly carried out under the coercion of the Jiang Zemin regime. South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported this event.
According to SCMP, about 50 Falun Gong practitioners rallied on Monday (overnight Tuesday HK time), accusing China of pressuring the French government to suppress Falun Gong before and during Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit to Paris last week.
The report said that practitioners submitted a letter addressed to French President Jacques Chirac demanding an investigation and a public apology for the brief arrests of at least 30 Falun Gong practitioners in Paris from January 24-27.
The report continued that Falun Gong practitioners believe that the crackdown was aimed at appeasing China before and during Mr Hu's four-day visit to France, which began January 26. Detained practitioners - from France, Britain, Germany, Taiwan, Norway, Finland and Sweden - were released hours after they were arrested.
"The police arrested Falun Gong members for no reason. They weren't doing anything apart from walking on the streets," said Kan Hung-cheung, a Hong Kong-based Falun Gong spokesman.
Mr Kan said, the practitioners, who were to attend a Falun Gong parade in France, were detained for simply wearing the group's yellow T-shirts or scarves. Some were handcuffed to benches for hours.
In the letter to Chirac, practitioners wrote, "This is inconceivable and simply illegal."
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