Icelanders Protest in Front of Prime Minister's Office for Justice, Democracy and Freedom (Photos)

Due to the Jiang regime's pressure on the Icelandic government, the Icelandic police detained 70 Falun Gong practitioners in a school in the morning of June 10, 2002. They were released and allowed to enter the country in the evening of the same day.

This news drew strong reactions from the public, the media and various social groups after it became known to the kind Icelandic people. In the pictures above, some warm-hearted Icelandic people protested in front of the Prime Minister's Office on June 12. They sealed their mouths with strips of black cloth, protesting against the restriction on the freedom of speech. They demonstrated in this way to express their discontent with the detention of Falun Gong practitioners, a clear violation of the freedom provisions of Iceland, and their protest against the actions of Jiang Zemin that trampled on human rights.

The pictures above were taken when the public protested as ministers were entering the Prime Minister's office for a Cabinet meeting in the afternoon.

Iceland is a free, democratic country. However, the Icelandic government, under pressure applied by Jiang Zemin, dictator and butcher of the Chinese people, recently made the decision to bar Falun Gong practitioners from entering Iceland for a period of time. When more than 90% of the Icelandic people opposed or protested this decision, leading to open support for Falun Gong practitioners by all the Icelandic media, the Icelandic government decided to shift the pressure to overseas. This has eased the domestic pressure and helped to avert further tension in Iceland. On June 10th, the Icelandic government lifted the detention of over 70 Falun Gong practitioners at the Reykjavik Airport. However, starting from June 11, the Icelandic government ordered IcelandAir to cancel the tickets of almost all Falun Gong practitioners at airports all over the world according to a blacklist of names supplied by them. A seemingly more peaceful Reykjavik Airport doesn't mean that the Icelandic government has accommodated the wishes of its own people and corrected its previous actions towards Falun Gong.

"Falun Dafa takes the cosmic truth, 'Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance' as its cultivation criteria. It aims for kindness and peace. All Falun Dafa activities are open to the public. Doing the exercises is completely voluntary. Everyone is a member of the society. It does not have any activity that is against the law or harmful to any society."

When faced with the Jiang's regime's combination of lies and deceit coupled with scoundrel diplomatic tactics, it was a mistake for the Icelandic government to give in to the evil. As practitioners, however, we have made timely adjustments, better positioned the relationship between truth-clarification and Fa Zheng Nian [maintaining a tranquil mind after reciting a Falun Gong verse once – Ed. Note]; when we calm our hearts to study the Fa [Law and principles of Falun Gong] and continue to Fa Zheng Nian [maintaining a tranquil mind after reciting a Falun Gong verse once – Ed. Note]with greater effort and higher intensity, we find ourselves with a most valuable opportunity for clarifying the truth. The actions of the Icelandic government while under pressure from Jiang and his gang in the Chinese government have now resulted in extended stays by Falun Gong practitioners--of every ethnicity and nationality--at many major airports and cities around the world. This is a unique, historic moment for the forces of justice all over the world to condemn Jiang Zemin's evil persecution in unison, allowing people to find out the truth of Falun Gong directly from Falun Gong practitioners' words and actions all over the world.

At present, Falun Gong practitioners who have been forced into an extended stay on their trips at airports across the world, those who have been inconceivably denied the right to board their flights by IcelandAir at their departing airports, and those who have managed to enter Iceland, are all proactively clarifying the truth about Falun Gong to the local Icelandic embassy or consulate, IcelandAir, Icelandic human rights organizations, Icelandic media, and those practitioners' own local governments, media, human rights organizations and non-government organizations (NGOs). Those practitioners are making efforts to garner assistance and support from every force of justice.

Source:
http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2002/6/15/23134.html
Chinese version available at:
http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/6/14/31735.html