Germany: Learning the Truth Awakens Police's Sense of Justice

During Hu Jintao's visit to Germany, Falun Gong practitioners took the opportunity to clarify the truth to the public, in particular, to the German police officers, who have direct contact with practitioners during their appeals and activties.

The German police disclosed that the Chinese officials raised rigid conditions prior to Hu's visit, namely, that Falun Gong should not be seen by Hu. Therefore, initially, the police just followed what they were told. In fact, however, wherever Hu Jintao went, Falun Gong practitioners did not only make sure that Hu saw the message, "Falun Dafa is good," but they made sure that Hu and his entourage were able to listen to the practitioners' compassionate voices. On the day Hu left Germany, senior German police officers said that they had a very good relationship with Falun Gong practitioners and they also had tried their best to help the practitioners. In fact, the police officers were deeply moved by the practitioners' kindness and their uncompromising spirit, and therefore, they chose to stand on the side of justice.

An anti-torture exhibit held in front of the German Federal Department of Domestic Affairs

The following are several stories about clarifying the facts to German police officers.

Prior to Hu Jintao's visit to Germany, Falun Gong practitioners started holding anti-torture exhibits. One of the exhibits was held in front of the front entrance of the German ruling party (the Social Democratic Party of Germany) SPD's headquarters in Berlin. There was an important meeting on that day and many media outlets came to cover the event. Initially, police officers demanded that the practitioners remove all banners they unfurled in front of the entrance. It was not so easy to hang and fix those banners. What's more important was that the banners were hung in an eye-catching place so that those senior political figures could clearly see the message and learn about the persecution that is going on in China. The practitioners calmly told the police officers how the Chinese communist regime inhumanly tortures Falun Gong practitioners and why they launched such a cruel suppression. Thus, a police officer asked his senior for instruction. Later, they decided to allow the practitioners to keep the banners and the exhibit booth, but just asked the practitioners to move the banner that might cause a traffic inconvenience to another place. Media reporters who were waiting for the press conference saw the posters that depicted the torture methods used on Falun Gong practitioners in China and were shocked. A number of media outlets, including some mainstream media photographers, photographed or videotaped the scene of practitioners' live reenactment of the torture methods used against practitioners in China, including the hanging torture, tiger bench, and the small cage.

Then practitioners spent a day clarifying the truth in the Federal Department of Domestic Affairs (FDDA). Because some practitioners held an anti-torture exhibit a week ago outside the FDDA and police officers there had already learned about the Chinese communist regime's persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, the practitioners received assistance from the police when they held the anti-torture exhibit the second time. The police allowed practitioners to distribute truth-clarification flyers and protected practitioners who stood in a high position to hang the banners. They also expressed their wishes that those politicians would clearly see those banners and could do something for human rights during Hu's visit.

During Hu's three-day visit to Germany, at first the police officers seriously regulated the practitioners with rules and they just followed orders from their supervisors. After they learned that Falun Gong practitioners have been suffering ruthless persecution simply because they persist in believing in "Truthfulness, Compassion, and Tolerance," and the fact that communist countries' human rights records are all very bad, the officers started feeling sympathetic for Falun Gong. Through their actions the police showed that they supported human rights and justice. Although some police issued orders to prohibit practitioners from being closer to Hu's entourage, they still allowed the practitioners to freely act after they listened to their explanation. This allowed the practitioners to voice their wishes at a close distance to Hu Jintao when Hu shook hands with Chinese students who greeted and welcomed him.

A plainclothes police officer said, after listening to the truth-clarification, that even though there was an agreement for this state visit that Falun Gong signs must not appear, the head of state of a dictatorial country should understand when he comes to a democratic country that people here enjoy freedom and it's unavoidable if practitioners want to unfurl Falun Gong banners. This time, even senior police officers were also in favour of Falun Gong. An officer told practitioners that when they shouted outside during a state banquet, the officers inside in charge of the security for the banquet were all able to hear their words clearly. From their interpreter, they learned the meaning of what the practitioners were shouting and they fully supported their protest. The practitioners joked, saying that after this state visit perhaps all German police officers learned one Chinese sentence: "Falun Dafa is good!"