The Scotsman: Falun Gong in city centre protest march

A PROTEST march was being staged by members of the Falun Gong movement along Princes Street today to raise awareness of the Chinese government’s repression of the meditation technique.

Around 100 protesters were expected to parade from East Market Street to the west end of Princes Street in a dazzling show of colourful costumes and dancing - the latest of several Falun Gong demonstrations during the Festival.

Members claim tens of thousands of practitioners have been detained, tortured and killed since Chinese leaders, fearful the movement could spark an uprising, banned Falun Gong in 1999. [..]

Victims of persecution were attending a talk before the parade, at which statements of support from Amnesty International were due to be read. Zhao Ming, a Trinity College Dublin student who was tortured in a Chinese labour camp for two years for practising Falun Gong, was due to speak before the parade.

The Falun Gong movement claims 458 of its members have died in Chinese jails.

Falun Gong spokesman Peter Jauhal said: "These are regular men and women - fathers and mothers - who are being persecuted and killed simply because they refuse to compromise their right to freedom of belief."

One of the event’s organisers, Lay-Seong Teh, said of the end of the demonstrations: "We finish today so we thought we would have a parade."