Germany: Clarifying the Truth after Eight Chinese Falun Gong Practitioners Are Prevented from Boarding a Flight to Iceland

At 11am on June 12th, I was told that there was no ticket for me in the computer system and that we had to ask the Icelandic Embassy in Germany if we wanted an explanation. Later, staff from the Icelandic Embassy told my husband (a German) that it was because I was on a blacklist of Falun Gong practitioners. My husband said, "My wife isn't dangerous and isn't carrying any weapons. Why is Iceland afraid of a lady? This sounds so ridiculous."

At noon, two more practitioners were denied boarding another flight to Iceland. They were directed to the main service desk of Icelandic Airlines.

Ten Falun Gong practitioners' names were on the list and the Icelandic Embassy notified them that they were not allowed to board the plane. Due to the pressure and lies from the political gang of scoundrels in China, the Icelandic Embassy didn't understand Falun Gong and they followed the order, making a poor decision. Two practitioners said to the Embassy staff, "We will write to the media in Iceland and Germany and the whole world about such an inconceivable decision." People from the Icelandic Embassy said, "Please wait for 10 minutes while we check again." Half an hour later, another five Chinese practitioners were told, "Because you are Chinese, you are not allowed to get onto the plane." It was said that this was a new decision from the Iceland Minister of Justice, because these five practitioners' names were not on the list.

Under such circumstances, the practitioners realized that they needed to clarify the truth about the situation. Two practitioners continued calling the media and human rights lawyers. One Icelandic human rights lawyer said, "Government high ranking officials don't have the right to prevent you from boarding. Only Icelandic Airlines has the right to decide if they will carry out such a decision." Then practitioners understood that it was crucial on this trip to clarify the truth to the airlines.

My husband, together with another four practitioners, immediately went to the Icelandic Airlines office in Germany that was located in a downtown area of Frankfurt. We talked to responsible people about how Falun Gong has been persecuted and defamed in China. We explained that the Jiang's regime treats good people who cultivate Zhen-Shan-Ren (Truth-Compassion-Tolerance) with cruel torture. They were very surprised and became a little more personable. Later, my husband (not a Falun Gong practitioner) asked for a refund on the ticket. One practitioner explained to the responsible person that we didn't attach importance to a refund, nor did we come here for money. We save our money and use our personal income to print out newspapers and flyers to hand out to those people who still don't know the truth about Falun Gong. We always try to explain the true situation to everyone because everybody has the right to know the truth. After knowing the truth, anyone with a sense of justice should know what to do. That responsible woman was very touched after listening to us. She suggested that we not give up hope and wait until tomorrow. There would be new information tomorrow.

The other responsible man kept nodding when he heard us quote Martin Luther King Jr., "An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." I told him, "Please think about it. What kind of person is Jiang if he hates and defames Truth-Compassion-Tolerance? He must be contrary (fake, evil and violent)." I also showed him the pictures of cruel torture indicating how the Chinese police persecute Falun Gong practitioners. Falun Gong practitioners have received such brutal torture just because they refuse to give up their belief in being good people. Whoever gives up practicing Falun Gong will be freed right away. Whoever insists on practicing Falun Gong receives ruthless torture. Now, more than 400 practitioners have been tortured to death like this. The cases of Ms. Wang Lixuan and her 8-month-old baby, who were both tortured to death, and some female practitioners who were put into male criminals' cells shocked this man.

I also said, "Yesterday some 70 Falun Gong practitioners were detained at your country's airport. However, they were soon released after many Icelandic people learned the truth and came to the place where the practitioners were detained to show their support." I said, "After knowing the truth, many people who didn't understand us before changed their opinions about Falun Gong." […] In the end, he wanted to keep the picture booklet entitled "Witness." This man said that we should not give up hope and wait until tomorrow.

Afterward, my husband said, "Those pictures played a big role. That man totally changed his mind in the end." […]