Russia: Falun Gong Practitioners Held a Press Conference to Mark the "April-25th" Incident

April 25th, 2006, was the seventh anniversary of the peaceful appeal staged by over ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners in China. Russian Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference at the Moscow Central House of Journalists to mark this incident with such a far-reaching significance in history. It was to expose the Chinese Communist regime’s exterminatory persecution against Falun Gong practitioners over the past seven years, especially the atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in various labour camps, prisons and hospitals.

Among the guests who made speeches at the press conference was the chairperson of the Moscow Falun Gong Association, a representative of the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China and Ludmilla Alexeeva, a representative of the Moscow Helsinki Group, who is a renowned human rights activist.

The chairperson of the Moscow Falun Gong Association said, “The brutal persecution launched by the Chinese communist regime against Falun Gong has been going on for seven years. Russian practitioners introduced the magnificence of Falun Gong, with their personal experience of cultivation based on the principals of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance,” to various government agencies, media and the general public during the past seven years. In order to put an end to the persecution, they also exposed the atrocities against Falun Gong practitioners and the lies fabricated by the Chinese communist regime to slander Falun Gong. Some people might wonder that our exposing the Chinese communist regime’s persecution against Falun Gong is tantamount to opposing China. In fact, the Chinese communist regime does not stand for China. China has five thousand years of civilisation and glorious traditional culture. It is simply because we loved traditional Chinese culture and started to learn qigong that many of us began to cultivate Falun Gong. Our protest against the persecution of Falun Gong not only can help rescue the practitioners in China, but it can also defend our sacred belief. Wherever the persecution happens, all of us will definitely protest against it. We hope that the international community can help put an end to the persecution."

"Especially after the atrocities of harvesting organs from living Falun Gong practitioners in the secret concentration camps were exposed in March this year, the Chinese communist regime has stepped up efforts to destroy evidence in various labour camps and other establishments that imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners. In the meantime, all organ transplantation centres and relevant hospitals have been making efforts to proceed with organ transplant operations. As a result, a massacre is on going in China. With the coordination of the Falun Gong Association and the Minghui Website, the Coalition to Investigate the Persecution of Falun Gong in China has been established. We hope that governments of various countries, mass media and human rights organisations are able to participate in this investigation. If the international communities turn a deaf ear to such evil acts, it will certainly endanger the safety of the whole world including Russia. Such anti-human genocidal crimes must be condemned and brought to justice."

The representative from the CIPFG said: “The inside story of the on-going persecution against Falun Gong by the Chinese communist regime has been exposed to the public worldwide. The atrocity of harvesting and selling living Falun Gong practitioners’ organs is a systematic sinister work colluding with officials at all levels. It proves that the Chinese communist regime’s systems are leading China toward an evil path. Anyone of good conscience, regardless of whether they are government officials or presidents, if they are really concerned about our national future, should take a stand on this matter. If they turn a blind eye to the atrocity of illegally harvesting and selling living human organs for profit, the Russians will certainly meet with a great misfortune, no matter whether they agree with it or not.”

Famous human rights activist Ludmilla Alexeeva said, “I have no special connection with Falun Gong, but the persecution we talked about at this conference is really horrible. Falun Gong is a peaceful cultivation group. Their persistence in their own belief is understandable. I believe that in addition to Falun Gong practitioners, all righteous people will never turn a deaf ear to the Chinese regime’s persecution, and instead they would help stop it. After the World War II, we pledged not to let the Holocaust concentration camps be repeated again. Today, sixty years have elapsed, but the evil atrocity in the concentration camps has resurged, and moreover, it is beyond what human can stand. We must do our level best to stop China’s brutal atrocities that have directly endangered the world’s civilisation and culture."

There were sixteen news agencies attending the press conference including Pravda, Sound of Moscow, AFP, Moscow University State news, the People’s Daily etc.