France: Practitioners Commemorate the April 25 Appeal

"April 25" is a special day for Falun Gong practitioners. On this day ten years ago, more than ten thousand Falun Gong practitioners went to Beijing's State Council Appeals Office to peacefully appeal, requesting the right to legally practice Falun Gong, and calling for their basic human right of freedom of belief. During the appeal, practitioners remained peaceful, rational, and in good order, creating a historic moral monument. Today, ten years later, French Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Paris to commemorate the April 25 peaceful appeal, and continued to raise awareness about the facts and work against the persecution in a peaceful and rational manner.

Falun Gong practitioners introduce the April 25 Appeal at a press conference	A Falun Gong spokesperson is interviewed
Display boards attract people to come and find out more	Mr. Jiang Youlu, a Chinese democracy activist in Paris

On the afternoon of April 24, 2009, Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Embassy in Paris. Falun Gong practitioners introduced the historic April 25 peaceful appeal and the anti-persecution efforts that have taken place in the years following. Several media outlets interviewed representatives of Falun Gong practitioners.

On April 25, 2009, Falun Gong practitioners held a large scale commemorative activity downtown in front of the Paris City Hall, attracting a stream of passersby.

Mr. Jiang Youlu said, "Today is the day of commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Falun Gong practitioners' peaceful resistance in China. Over the past ten years, Falun Gong practitioners have been peacefully resisting the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) suppression. Looking back, ten years ago, I did not know much about Falun Gong, but I know that Falun Gong flourished and grew in China at that time, and some provincial and city government leaders also practiced Falun Gong. The good effect that Falun Gong had achieved was also publicized across the country. According to reports at that time, Falun Gong played a big role in stabilizing society.

"We later saw from some videotapes that many big cities nationwide were promoting Falun Gong on a large scale. Then suddenly I heard that Jiang Zemin attempted to 'eliminate' Falun Gong in three months, ten years ago. Of course, people like us who have known the Communist Party quite well, know that the Communist Party has never allowed any group to have a large number of members who have unified will and thoughts.

"After that, we learned that Falun Gong teaches Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, which is a good thing. Soon we realized that the Communist Party is afraid when ordinary people speak the truth, because it has always talked nonsense and told lies, which it uses to suppress people by violence. That's why the Communist Party was afraid. And Jiang attempted to 'eliminate' Falun Gong in three months. What are things like now? We see a large number of people in many big cities in dozens of countries around the world practicing Falun Gong. Falun Gong has been spread to the whole world. This fact alone proves that the Chinese Communist Party and Jiang, who attempted to eliminate Falun Gong in three months, are just hurting themselves in the long run. Throughout this time, Falun Gong has been conducting a peaceful resistance, and exposing the Communist Party's crimes."

Jiang Youlu next explained that the publication of the editorial series, the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, in recent years has exposed many crimes committed by the Communist Party. Anyone who reads the editorial series will come to know the crimes it has committed, and as a result of the series, a grand trend of quitting the CCP was initiated. This shows that the Communist Party's suppression of Falun Gong has failed completely. The persecution is doomed no matter how much more money the CCP invests, how many more people it mobilizes, or how many more articles slandering Falun Gong it publishes to deceive the world's people.

Jiang said that the CCP has resorted to many hooligan methods to undermine Falun Gong, including trying to damage the media that Falun Gong practitioners operate and sabotaging practitioners' computers. It is also known that the CCP has used such hooligan tactics as beating Falun Gong practitioners and stealing equipment from practitioners in the United States and Hong Kong.

Wu Jiang, a democracy activist living in Paris, said that appealing is Falun Gong practitioners' basic right, because they are peaceful and the protests aim at the CCP slander. He added that former Chinese president, Jiang Zemin, due to his jealousy, hatred and fear of Falun Gong, single-handedly launched the suppression of Falun Gong.

Wu pointed out, "Suppressing Falun Gong is not only suppressing a peaceful organization, in fact it is suppressing China's righteous strength, a peaceful and rational strength, and a morally upgraded strength. It is the same as suppressing the Chinese people.

"The disaster resulting from the suppression of Falun Gong has been spread throughout China. Because Falun Gong has over 80 million practitioners, their relatives and friends account for several hundred million people. In the persecution of Falun Gong, Jiang has sent a large number of Falun Gong practitioners to forced labor camps, where the authorities brutally torture and abuse the practitioners, and the CCP has even harvested the organs of living practitioners and cremated their bodies to hide the evidence. Such a crime has never been seen in today's world. The CCP is a specific example of a group that has committed genocide and crimes against humanity.

"Ten years have passed, but Falun Gong practitioners have not given in during the persecution, because they know that the CCP's persecution is illegal, inhuman and irrational. While Falun Gong practitioners follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, they are carrying out peaceful, rational, and compassionate actions. So Falun Gong, especially overseas, has been spread to over 80 countries, and the whole world recognizes that Falun Gong is great and the CCP's persecution is a criminal act."

Mr. Wu said that the Falun Gong practitioners' commemoration of the April 25 appeal carries significant meaning, because Falun Gong is still under adversity, subjected to the CCP's persecution. The CCP, due to its evil nature, is bound to be against freedom and peace, and persecutes righteousness. Falun Gong, however, has become stronger, and has become an indispensable strength that elevates the Chinese people's moral standards. This strength is continuously growing, he added.