Belgium: "What Eutelsat has done is wrong"

On October 9th, 2008, NTDTV and its supporters held a large-scale assembly at Schumann Square in Brussels to appeal for attention from the European Union to Eutelsat's closure of Sound of Hope Radio Station and the NTDTV's signal to Mainland China. Behind the event is that the CCP takes an economic interest as the method to induce Eutelsat to block the freedom of the media by combining threats with inducements. Some European Falun Gong practitioners participated in this event, and supported the NTDTV’s broadcasting of the CCP’s brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

MEPs who came to join the press conference includes quite a few European MEPs: Mr. Bart Staes from Belgium, German MEP Ms Helga Tr ipel, Spanish MEP, Raul ROMEVA, Spanish MEP, David HAMMERSTEIN, and spokesman of the NTDTV Carrie Hung, spokesman of the Sound of Hope Radio, Eva, the European representative of Reporters without borders, Olivier Basille, Chairman of the Belgium Friend of Tibet, Inge Hermans and part of the Belgian party members.

At the press conference, assembly organiser the spokesperson of NTDTV, Carrie Hung, introduced the process of the event of the European Satellite Company shutting off the NTDTV station signal unilaterally, afterward, she gave an example of the poisonous powdered milk event which occurred recently in mainland China, indicated: This is not the individual enterprise's moral question, but is the entire industrial system and government's corruption, if does not have the independent media surveillance, the problem only then presents in time only then will it be discovered.

Several months ago, the Belgian MEP Bart Staes had placed the related content of the Eutelsat event on his own official website said: What Eutelsat does is wrong, we as Europeans have the strength to force the Eutelsat to change its behavior.

Spanish MEP David HAMMERSTEIN said: ‘if we do not guard the European Union basic principle of democracy, not only China will have the problem, such problem will also reflect on Europe.

Reporters without borders representative of EU Mr. Olivier Basille said: what exactly has the company who should comply with European value principle done; this is not only China’s problem, but also a Europe’s problem.

The Chairman of The Friends of Tibet of Belgium Ms Inge Hermans stressed in her speech, the NTDTV has been speaking for persecuted groups and different political opinion viewers and they will support unconditionally to restore the signal.

A mother and a daughter from Scotland indicated: we already heard the situation of Falun Gong being persecuted in China in the UK; I feel it is necessary when I saw so many people standing out to support the media’s truly broadcasting of China’s matter. She also said: we should let more people know the persecution happening in China now and we should stop the persecution together, such persecution should not happen in this age.

The assembly started at nine in the morning and finished at three in the afternoon, during lunchtime, official workers from the EU buildings came out to watch. Passers-by were listening attentively to the speeches from the loudspeakers. Many people accepted material, paid attention and understood why the European satellite has done this.