AFTONBLADET [Sweden]: “They kicked us in the face”

Excerpts

Thursday, November 22, 2001

By Anita Hansson

“Here, behind the policemen I am assaulted.”
Roland Odar, 27, just arrived from China and the demonstration on Tiananmen Square is at Arlanda (Stockholm).
The peaceful journey in the manner of Falun Gong, ended up with a brutal assault in the police bus on the way to detention.
“I was scared. He is going to kill me, I thought.”

(…)
They decided with other Falun Gong practitioners from the West to demonstrate for the movement the day before yesterday.
“We wanted people to pay attention to the maliciousness the Chinese are subjected to.”
But he never thought that adherents from the West would be treated in the same brutal way.
He was wrong. Suddenly policemen surrounded the group of foreigners of 36 persons.

“Pulled and torn”
“The pulled and tore at us. At clothes and the hair. The kicks where raining down.
Yet it was about to become worse.
Roland Odar was lying on the floor in the police bus. Shocked and hazy.
I had a concussion of the brain. In the police bus the policemen started to kick us in the face. I managed to raise an arm to shield my head.
His right arm was bleeding and he was dizzy due to the beatings.
The Swedes hooked arms with each other to firmly stick together.
“We know that Chinese women can be raped and severely assaulted by the police, so we tried to stick together, says Anne Hakosalo, 33.

(…)

Prisoners For 24 hours
For 24 hours they were held in custody. First in police custody, then in a hotel nearby the airport in wait for the deportation.
Now he and the others in the group are not allowed to visit China for five years.
“But now we have shown the world what is happening in China with peaceful adherents of Falun Gong. And it can happen to Westerners.