Germany: "SOS Bike Tour" sets off from Heidelberg City Hall

In the picturesque city of Heidelberg, there lives a German family of which all the family members are Falun Dafa practitioners. Of the three daughters, one is in university and the other two in high school. Along with another German practitioner who is a teacher, they decided to make use of their summer vacation to launch an "SOS Bike Tour" from Heidelberg to the Chinese Consulate in Bonn. On the way, they clarified the truth of Dafa and the persecution in China to various government agencies, mass media and others. In addition, they also collected signatures for their Chinese friend by the name of Wei Xiong, who had once studied in Germany, but is now detained in a labour camp on the outskirts of Beijing because he is a Falun Gong practitioner.

This "SOS Bike Tour" was supported by the local government and mass media. The bike team set out on their journey from in front of the City Hall on the morning of August 1. These four girls wrote slogans including “SOS Bike Tour," “Rescue Wei Xiong” and “Recover Falun Gong’s Reputation” etc. with red ink on yellow T-shirts with their own hands. In the meantime, Small-size yellow flags with the characters of “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” were fastened to the bikes, while the larger posters with the slogan of “Rescue Wei Xiong” were displayed on the back of the bikes.

On behalf of the Mayor and the city government, city councilor Ms. VOGEL saw the Bike Team off. She heartily recognized the practical actions taken by practitioners for human rights and justice, and wished the Team a great success on the journey. In the meantime, she also extended her best wishes to the imprisoned Wei Xiong for his courage and strength coping with the difficult situation, hoping that he could regain freedom in the near future. In addition, she hoped the vicious persecution happening in China could be ended as soon as possible. Several reporters of local mass media showed up to interview practitioners and take some photos.

Local practitioners and their family members saw the Bike Team off in front of the city hall, and talked to the participants. This touching scenario aroused the interests of the tourists and passers-by. They came forward to ask for SOS flyers one after another, trying to understand the truth. They also wrote their names and addresses on the signature book to show their support to the practitioners. With a full load of support and encouragement, the “SOS Bike Team” set off on their journey of truth clarification.