Australian Citizen Dai Zhizhen Appeals in Japan for the Release of Yoko Kaneko

By a practitioner from Japan

At 2 p.m. December 2, 2002, a press conference hosted by Niigata Daily for the rescue of Yoko Kaneko was held at the Journalists' Club in Niigata County, Japan. Five media groups attended the conference.

Kaneko Atusi, husband of Yoko Kaneko, spoke about how his wife had been arrested in Beijing and how her life was in danger as a result of the torture she has already suffered. He was very worried about his wife's safety and appealed to the media to help him locate the hospital where his wife is being held.

Next, Dai Zhizhen, a practitioner who travelled from Australia to Japan with her two-year-old daughter in her arms, addressed the media. She said, "For the past 8 months, I have travelled extensively with my daughter. I know that no matter how hard I try, I will not be able to bring back my husband. But I hope that my husband's death will save other people's lives, help reunite thousands of families that have been broken apart, and spare the children the pain of losing a parent like my daughter is living with. The purpose of my trip to Japan is to appeal to kind-hearted Japanese people, the Japanese government, and the media to help bring Yoko Kaneko back to Japan. Yoko's life is in danger. We have to do our best to rescue her. I don't want to see her and other illegally jailed Falun Gong practitioners die from the tortures the way my husband did. I appeal to the Japanese government and media to help Yoko reunite with her husband."

Ms. Dai's husband, Mr. Chen Chengyong, lost his job and was arrested as a result of his several trips to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. In July 2001, his body was found in a field on the outskirts of Guangzhou. When Mr Chen's sister went to identify the body, she saw that it was already decaying, which suggested that the police had waited for a period of time before notifying the family. It was impossible to ascertain the exact time that Mr. Chen died. For publicizing her brother's death, Mr. Chen's sister was sentenced to two years in a forced labour camp. Their father, after hearing about his son's death and his daughter's imprisonment, passed away broken hearted.

For the past year, Ms. Dai has been travelling around the world speaking about her personal experiences, to draw the world's attention to the persecution of Falun Gong in China, and to secure the release of the illegally jailed practitioners.

At the end of the press conference, Mr. Kitazima, coordinator of the rescue team provided an update on the rescue efforts and the upcoming large-scale petition campaign in Ginza Tokyo.

On the same day, both the rescue team and Mr. Kaneko Atuzi presented letters to the Niigata County Council appealing for the Japanese government to help Yoko Kaneko return to Japan safely.