Italy: Practitioners from Milan Protest at the Thai Consulate and Deliver an Open Letter

After the December the 15th protest outside the Thai Consulate in Torino, Falun Gong practitioners went to the Thai Consulate in Milan to express their concern about the human rights violations by the Thai police, who arrested Falun Gong practitioners at the behest of the Chinese Embassy in Bangkok. Practitioners urged the Thai government not to collaborate with the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) in persecuting Falun Gong.

Practitioners from the Italian Falun Gong Association also called the Thai Embassy in Rome to protest about the human rights violations. They urged the Thai government to have an open mind and take note of the six million plus withdrawals from the CCP and not become a part of the CCP’s demise.

The Thai Consulate is on the outskirts of Milan. Practitioners put up display boards, hung up their banners and then peacefully practised the Falun Gong exercises and sent forth righteous thoughts. Many local residents and passers-by all happily accepted our flyers. A few Italian people said they already knew about the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China through TV and other media. One middle-aged lady asked to sign our petition: “In the face of such barbaric acts, we have to do something. I came from Somalia and upon hearing about what’s happening in China, I’m very disturbed.”

Another lady said: “The Western world has always known about the brutality and evilness of the Communist Party. This kind of system needs to be removed. In China, not only are the Falun Gong practitioners brutally persecuted, but also many underground Christians. Upon seeing so many Chinese people quitting the CCP, we feel comforted. But I think the number is not large enough; I hope more and more Chinese people can wake up and quit the CCP.” She also introduced practitioners to the offices of a few newspapers so that more people can learn about the evilness of the CCP and the massive Quit the CCP movement.

On December 10th — International Human Rights Day — while practitioners were protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy in Thailand, Thai police were instigated by embassy officials to search practitioners' bags, drag them away, seize their banners etc. On December 14th, two practitioners were beaten and then three were arrested when they distributing materials that exposing the evil nature of the Chinese Communist Party at the tourist city Pattaya. They were released that night. On December 15th, eight practitioners were arrested in front of the Chinese Embassy by Thai police and they are still detained. These behaviours violate the human rights of a legal local group — Falun Gong practitioners of Thailand.