Finland: Fourth Stop of the SOS Tour of Northern Europe - Helsinki

The Nordic SOS-tour arrived in Helsinki on 16th July and around 30 practitioners from Finland, Sweden and Norway participated to let more Finnish people know about Falun Gong and to learn about the terrible persecution in China.

At first we had a peaceful appeal at the Chinese Embassy and asked the Chinese government to stop the brutal persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Practitioners demonstrated the exercises and did the Fa Zheng Nian meditation. Because the embassy officials didn’t accept an open letter from the practitioners, a Finnish practitioner had to put it into the embassy’s mailbox.

After the appeal we had some activities in a park in the middle of Helsinki. Practitioners demonstrated the Falun Gong exercises and handed out information. It was a warm and a sunny day, so lots of people were enjoying their day sitting on the park lawn and benches or walking through the park. At the same time they could feel the peacefulness and beauty of Falun Dafa.

Many people stopped to look at the practitioners who did the exercises and they gladly accepted more information about the practice. The display of photos and information on Falun Gong that were also in the park, attracted many people giving them a good chance to learn more about Falun Gong and about what has happened in China during the last three years. After we gave a short introduction of Falun Gong and the persecution, there were people who immediately wanted to sign the petition.

Dai Zhizhen from Australia told her story to the audience and many people were moved upon hearing her experience. They now have a clearer understanding of how serious the situation in China really is. Some people we met in the park and talked with supported us by saying words like “we wish you good success” while holding their thumbs up.

A reporter from Finland’s third largest newspaper came by and interviewed Dai Zhizhen and other practitioners. The reporter also took some photos of the event. A Finnish news agency (STT) also called us and they interviewed us and asked about the demonstration at the Chinese Embassy and what our message to China was. The response was – to stop the persecution of innocent Falun Gong practitioners in China.

On the same day, Dai Zhizhen and two other practitioners went to meet some officials from Finland’s Ministry of Foreign affairs. The people present were from both the Human Rights department and the department that deals with issues concerning Asia and China. They learned more about the persecution and human rights violations after hearing Dai Zhizen’s story of how her husband was persecuted to death. They gladly accepted the Human Right Reports Supplementary Cases book, in where individual human rights violation cases of Falun Gong practitioners are reported.