Japanese County to Help Secure the Release of Yoko Kaneko (Photos)

To help Yoko Kaneko return home and reunite with her family in Niigata County, Falun Gong practitioners in Japan started an SOS Urgent Rescue Walk and signature collection in Niigata starting on July 20, 2002. The practitioners ignored the high temperatures and arrived at County Hall of Niigata County on July 28, 2002. They held a press conference on the next day. Two county councilmen attended the conference and delivered speeches. Eight or nine media outlets attended and covered the event.

At first, the practitioners gave an update of Yoko Kaneko's situation in China. Then the county councilman introduced Yoko Kaneko's background briefly and said, "China's sentencing of Yoko Kaneko to forced labour camp violates the U.N. Declaration of Human Rights that China signed. We call on China to abide by the declaration and release Yoko Kaneko as soon as possible. We hope that the Japanese government will try its best to rescue Yoko Kaneko like it would for a Japanese citizen."