Italy: Practitioners Were Invited to Expose the Persecution at an Evening Banquet Attended by Government Officials

Numana is a small town located on the seashore of Ancona Province, Italy. On July 14, Turkish reporter Mrs. Gonul and her Freedom Committee held an evening banquet there. She invited Falun Gong practitioners as special guests to tell people the truth about the persecution in China. Present at the banquet were the Commissioners of Numana and two neighbouring towns, the Deputy Commissioners and Culture Specialists who are in charge of tourism and culture, police chiefs, and more than 60 guests from other fields. The local newspaper, Adriatic Post, dispatched a reporter to cover this event.

As the banquet began, Mrs. Gonul said she knew Falun Gong for the first time when she was at the initial welcoming ceremony for the Italian translation of the bookZhuan Falun in Fiorentina, Italy. She was deeply attracted when she saw the exercises conducted with graceful music. Later on, she learned about the suppression in China, which she could not rationalize at all. She felt angry, and decided to expose this evil persecution. Now this thought has come true. She also plans to introduce Falun Dafa to her hometown in Turkey.

Practitioners of Falun Gong introduced the principles and the characteristics of the exercises. They also described the severe situations of persecution in China, with special portrayals of the persecution on female Dafa practitioners and children. At the end of the banquet, practitioners performed the five sets of exercises.

This was the first time the government officials got to know about Falun Dafa and the persecution. They all said that they had heard about human right violations in China, but they knew nothing about the persecution on Falun Gong in the past. Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are the common values of human beings, and they should be upheld with our whole heart.

The next day, the local newspaper issued a report entitled “Committee in Town Supporting Falun Gong”. Along with the report was a big group photo of Falun Dafa practitioners and the local government officials.