Copenhagen: Practitioners Are More Mature

by a practitioner from Germany

On September 24, 2002 evening, a western practitioner spoke to Zhu Rongji at the hotel he stayed in Copenhagen: “How are you? Falun Dafa is good! ” After Danish security guards talked to his Chinese counterparts, this western practitioner was thus arrested. Nevertheless, the practitioner, his wife and daughter clarified the truth about Falun Gong to Danish police officers on the spot. They won most people’s understanding and support, but a Danish police officer shouted at the practitioner’s wife and threatened that the police would put the couple in jail and send the ten-year-old daughter to an orphanage. Their daughter was scared and began crying out on the spot. Then the three were taken to police headquarters, and the practitioner was handcuffed on the way. However, they didn’t have any extreme reactions.

The coordinator of the local Falun Gong Association rushed to the police headquarters after he heard of the news. After they clarified the truth with righteous thoughts, the westerner practitioner was released without condition, though the police first threatened to fine him or find an attorney to accuse him. In the meantime, practitioners informed mass media and gave out a press release immediately. On the following day, practitioners also visited mass media in person. As a result, several major newspapers in Copenhagen carried articles about it. In addition, practitioners who were journalists also interviewed police officers, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the hotel, to show mass media’s grave concern about the incident. After exchanging viewpoint among practitioners repeatedly, they maintained that the evil persecution should not be shall not be pampered, and the illegal acts of Danish police officers concerned should be redressed. Then, they further reached a consensus, and decided to hire a lawyer. Two days later, on September 26, The Police Department exclusively sent an official letter to that western practitioner, formally admitting that the arrest was unreasonable and the party concerned was eligible to claim for compensation.

Next, I would like to further talk about how the practitioners who are journalists cooperated based on the Fa [principles of Falun Gong] in this incident. That evening, a reporter called the Police Department to ask about the incident. In the meantime, practitioners from various countries rushed to the hotel to interview police officers and the proprietor of the hotel. After the practitioner was released, they also interviewed the western practitioner and the coordinator of the local Falun Gong Association.

The following day, on September 25, practitioners arranged an interview attended by the personnel from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Police Department and a news agency that released the news regarding this incident. On the same day, they also interviewed a police supervisor, which focused on whether Chinese security guards were involved in the incident. During the interview, they told the police supervisor about the dishonorable role Chinese security guards played in the incident that Falun Gong practitioners were dispelled from a hotel in Germany. In addition, they told him that the incident taking place in Copenhagen was only one of a series of international incidents in which China tried to extend its persecution to foreign countries. They also pointed out that police officers’ reports were inconsistent with what the three Falun Gong practitioners said. The police supervisor was very embarrassed and repeatedly mentioned that he didn’t know the details. Finally, when asked by the interviewers whether there would be a formal statement from the police in this regard, he gave a negative reply and said that it was only one of the minor things in their daily work.

On one hand, this interview paved the way for our making feature programs in the future. On the other, it also provided us with an opportunity to tell the police officer, from the angle of a third party (mass media and the general public), that it was by no means an insignificant trivial matter as it sounded like, but an issue of international concern.

This case was resolved quite smoothly within two days. I think it was because many Dafa practitioners had gained further insight into the Fa [principles of Falun Gong] that they were able to take quick actions to stop the evil persecution. With the harmony and righteous thoughts learned through cultivation, practitioners naturally knew the roles they should play when facing unexpected situations. When doing all kinds of tasks, they cooperated with perfect unspoken agreement. Many practitioners have deeply sensed that Dafa practitioners have become more and more mature, after experiencing the incidents happened in Germany, Iceland and Denmark.