Iceland: Falun Gong Still in Public Spotlight

On 20 July 2002, the third anniversary of the persecution of Falun Gong, a group of European practitioners arrived in Reykjavik, capital of Iceland and the final destination of a Nordic SOS tour covering Gothenburg, Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki, Malmo and Copenhagen.

Meeting with the Icelandic people showed us clearly that they have not forgotten the issue of Falun Gong. It is still a hot topic in the media. As an Icelandic human rights watcher put it: “Icelandic people tend to forget similar issues a few days later. This time, it is so encouraging that weeks after the event, Icelandic people keep asking their elected officials for an explanation of why they keep making wrong decisions.”

Two representatives of the European Falun Dafa Association paid a visit to the Prime Minister’s office and held a 35-minute talk with the deputy director general of the Prime Minister’s office. He reassured them that no decision made by the Icelandic government was targeted against Falun Gong. He admitted that Falun Gong practitioners were peaceful during their stay in Iceland and said, “Most of the Falun Gong practitioners were exemplary in their behaviour.”

On the same day, other practitioners erected an information stand at the centre of the city to commemorate the end of the third year of persecution and to clarify the truth to people. The next day a press conference was held at the Nordic House. Channel 1 TV and channel 2 radio broadcasted information about this on the same day. Several newspapers published reports the day after. All reports were very positive and gave a lot of attention to the persecution case of practitioner Dai Zhizhen as well as harassment made by Chinese officials outside of China.

Meetings with members of parliament from both the ruling party and the opposition were very encouraging. They were both very supportive and are urging their government to condemn the human rights violations against Falun Gong practitioners in China. Iceland is moving towards a better future.

European practitioners