Australia: Practitioners Hold Press Conference in Memory of Fellow Practitioners Recently Tortured to Death in China

On January 27, dozens of Falun Gong practitioners from Sydney and Canberra gathered in front of the Chinese Embassy to hold a press conference in memory of fellow Falun Gong practitioners Tang Meijun, Meng Xiao, and others who were recently tortured to death in China. In the summer heat, practitioners held up large banners that read "Stop Killing Falun Gong," "Punish Prime Criminal Jiang Zemin" and "896 Falun Gong Practitioners Died As a Result of Persecution."

Ms. Tang Meijun, 49, was arrested while she distributed truth-clarifying materials about Falun Gong on December 10, 2003. She was tortured to death on December 30, 2003, at the Maojiashan Labour Camp in Chongqing. Another Dafa practitioner, Meng Xiao, from Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, died between January 8 and 12, 2004 in Jintang County, Chengdu City, after suffering a variety of cruel tortures including forced-feeding, being tied up, and injections with overdoses of toxic drugs. The death cases of six other Falun Gong practitioners including Wang Ruxin, Wang Defeng, Zhao Yanxia, and others were also cited at the conference.

Australian Falun Gong practitioner Colleen said that she hoped all Australian people and personnel of the Chinese Embassy understand that Falun Gong practitioners are not against the Chinese government. They only demand that the persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners be stopped. Jiang Zemin launched this brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. As a result, a great number of Chinese people were imprisoned, detained, sent to labour camps, or tortured to death. In the past four bloody years, 869 practitioners were verified to have died as a result of persecution.

Mr. Terry, a representative from the World Organization to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong, made a speech at the conference. He said that Falun Gong practitioners were suing Jiang Zemin for crimes of genocide and torture, were looking into Jiang' legal responsibility for the persecution of Falun Gong, and would bring to justice prime criminal Jiang Zemin and all other criminals who participated in the persecution. Right now, lawsuits against Jiang Zemin have been filed in a number of countries.

Participants at the conference stood in silent tribute and in mourning of those fellow practitioners who died due to the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Yan told the media when interviewed that he took a day off from work to come to Canberra for the press conference. He felt extremely sad that the killing of Falun Gong practitioners was still going on. Mr. Yan said that his sister was detained in Guangzhou City Labour Camp for 3 years simply because she refused to give up her practice of Falun Gong, and she suffered various inhumane tortures. He appealed to people to pay more attention to this issue and to help stop the savage persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

Many tourists from Mainland China who were visiting the Chinese Embassy at the time also witnessed the press conference and were shocked to learn the truth. Some of them took materials about the persecution, and others took photos. New Tang Dynasty TV and Sound of Hope radio network were there to report the event.