Sweden: Third Stop of the SOS Tour of Northern Europe

In July 1999, the persecution against Falun Dafa practitioners began in China. In order to further clarify the truth about Dafa to people in society, to expose the evil crimes of Jiang Zemin’s Chinese Government and to call for the help from the world’s people to end this persecution, the North Europe SOS Tour motorcade travelled through Gothenburg and Oslo before arriving at the Swedish capital, Stockholm on July 13 2002.

In front of the Chinese Embassy, we did Fa Zheng Nian [a type of meditation] together with the practitioners around the world. We were surrounded by candlelight. In the background were several huge banners. One of them read, “You can lock up my body, but not my heart. My soul goes straight up to the sky”, which was a sentence written by a Dafa practitioner in prison.

On Sunday July 14, the practitioners initiated a peace parade. The three policemen who had led our motorcade before greeted us warmly. They escorted us from the southern part of the capital, through the busy streets, bridges, squares and the royal garden, all the way to Norrmalmstorg Square.

At Norrmalmstorg Square, Dafa disciples held a press conference. Congresswoman Ana Maria, who also represented the People’s Party, attended the event and gave a speech. She highly appraised the peaceful appeals and courage that Dafa practitioners have undertaken for the truth in the past three years. She called for all political parties and government officials to express their own attitudes towards the persecution of Falun Gong because such a persecution has seriously violated human rights. She said: ”Instead of going swimming or enjoying the sunshine, you solicited very hard during the holidays for the release of those who were under severe hardship. The spirit of Falun Gong deserves our admiration. You have set a paradigm for the human being. In history, Christians were persecuted. After a long time, however, those who were persecuted were deemed as immortals. We should recall what has happened in the past when we deal with the persecution that Falun Gong practitioners are facing.”

Although Congresswoman Margareta of the Conservative Party could not attend the event in person, she wrote a letter, which said: “Any form of coercion is not right. China should stop persecuting Falun Gong practitioners immediately. Falun Gong practitioners are entitled to rights of belief, and they should not be subjected to these various forms of torture and persecution. Therefore, I sincerely wish you success in the North Europe SOS Tour. I hope you can obtain a consummate ending and warmest support."

Dai Zhizen, an Australian practitioner, described how her family members were persecuted since July 1999 because they practised Falun Gong. Her husband went to Beijing to appeal for an end to the persecution in January 2001, but was arrested and tortured to death. Dai is an Australian citizen. To avoid being arrested and forced to have an abortion, she returned to Australia after she got pregnant and gave birth to her child. Six months after she lost contact with her husband, she brought Fadu, her four-month-old daughter, back to China. She could not get any information about her husband. No one was willing or able to tell her where her husband was. After a six-month stay in China, she was forced to return to Australia because her visa had expired. Eventually, she knew of the death of her husband from one of the Falun Gong websites. Her husband’s elder sister, who was in China and was illegally sentenced to a labour camp later on, recognized the decayed body of her husband. Dai called for all compassionate people in the world to help stop this persecution.

A representative from the Falun Dafa Association in Northern Europe depicted what Falun Gong is and why these activities are held. They also talked about the three-year-long persecution that Falun Gong practitioners have encountered, the propaganda spread by Jiang Zemin’s Government, the great compassion and forbearance that Falun Gong practitioner have demonstrated in accordance with the principles of Falun Dafa, the awards that many countries have given to Falun Dafa, and an appeal to all the compassionate people in the world to end this persecution against human virtues. In addition, practitioners talked about the noble character of the lotus flower - Grown out of mud, but not contaminated by it.

On Monday, July 15, practitioners made another peace appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy, and held a press conference to call for people to join us in calling for an end to this vicious and irrational persecution.