Account from an Eyewitness of the April the 25th Peaceful Appeal

On April the 25th 1999, about 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners appealed peacefully in Beijing. From beginning to end, everything was in order and there was no one making loud noises, raising banners, or shouting slogans. After the then Premier met with some representatives of the practitioners and reached a resolution, the Falun Gong practitioners left Beijing quietly. Later, Jiang Zemin used this incident as an excuse to initiate and carry out the brutal persecution against Falun Gong for more than four years.

A practitioner couple Shen Shumin and Bian Xuzhuang participated in the 4.25 appeal in Beijing. The following is their recollection of that day's experience.

Why did we go to appeal?

Ms. Shen said, "On the day before our appeal, April 24, 1999, we learned that more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested in Tianjin for no apparent reason and that some of the practitioners were injured from being beaten by police.

On April the 11th 1999, Luo Gan's brother-in-law He Zuoxiu wrote an anti-Falun Gong article in the Youth Overview magazine published by Tianjin Normal Institute. Local Falun Gong practitioners went to the Tianjin Normal Institute and other relevant organisations to clarify the truth about Falun Gong. However, The Public Security Bureau in Tianjin called in riot police to beat the Falun Gong practitioners. As a result, there were practitioners injured, and 45 were arrested.

When the local practitioners asked for the arrested practitioners to be released, the Tianjin government said that the Ministry of Public Security was involved and that without Beijing's authorisation, no practitioners would be released. Police in Tianjin also suggested that Falun Gong practitioners appeal to the National Appeals Office in Beijing."

The couple said, "We experienced great benefit in both mind and body from practising Falun Gong. Placing our trust in the government and thinking that more people being there may help the government to learn the facts, we decided to go to appeal to the National Appeals Office and called other practitioners we knew to go with us."

Police led us towards the leadership compound

Ms. Shen recollected, "On the morning of April 25, my husband and I went to the National Appeals Office by bicycle. The appeals office was located on Fuyou Street. We checked our bicycles outside a library north of Fuyou Street and walked towards the office.

We saw many Dafa practitioners walking towards Fuyou Street, being lead by police. Once we were on Fuyou Street, we saw other policemen leading Dafa practitioners towards us from another direction. Then police told us to stand on the sidewalk west of Fuyou Street. We remembered not to block the sidewalk, so we left a lane about 3 feet wide for passersby."

Orderliness from beginning to end and no blockage of traffic

Ms. Shen said, "We stood across from a stop of the No. 14 Bus line, and saw that the buses running smoothly until police blocked the street in the afternoon. Before the street was blocked off, many people on bicycles passed by, and some stopped to ask for information. To avoid blocking traffic, we persuaded them to leave. Some practitioners came forward to help maintain the traffic flow."

Police went from uneasiness to trust

Ms. Shen said, "At the beginning, the police looked at us with tensions and wariness. Later, after seeing that we stood quietly without making noise and even helped to maintain traffic flow, they became relaxed and many of them even went back to the police vehicles to take a rest."

Following "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" and Putting Others First

Mr. Bian said, "To avoid disturbing nearby residents and using the limited public restrooms, we did not eat or drink that day. We did not touch the water we brought. Practitioners going to restroom stood in a line and let local residents to use the restrooms first."

Premier meets with practitioners and resolves Tianjin incident, and practitioners leave quietly

Mr. Bian said, "At about 10 pm, we heard that the Premier had met representatives of the practitioners and ordered Tianjin to release the arrested practitioners. The incident was resolved, so we departed quietly."

The policeman said, "You must be tired. Please go home and get some rest."

Ms. Shen said, "When we picked up our bicycles, other practitioners found their bicycles easily, but I could not find my bicycle. I saw about 6 policemen nearby talking about the appeal on the day. One young policeman sat on a red bicycle, and I saw that it was my bicycle.

I said to that policeman, 'Excuse me. That is my bicycle.' He stepped off from the bicycle and quickly apologised for his mistake. I said with a smile, 'Thank you for watching my bicycle.' All of the policemen there laughed. One of them said, "You must be tired after standing for a whole day. Please go home and get some rest.'"