LONDON (FGIC-UK) – UK Practitioners Celebrate World Falun Dafa Day

On Sunday 9th May, 2004, from 12 to 5pm, a wide range of activities will take place in Trafalgar Square to celebrate World Falun Dafa Day. There will be displays of traditional Chinese dancing, music, drumming, choral singing, demonstration of Falun Gong exercises and the performance of “Jiang Zemin on Trial.”

Falun Gong, or Falun Dafa as it is also known, was first introduced to the public in China on May 13th 1992. Since then, its popularity has spread around the world and Falun Gong is now practised in over 50 countries, from schools in south India to prisons in Bali. This year’s Trafalgar Square activities, in the heart of London, celebrate the core principles of Falun Gong, which are Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.

Chinese Minister’s Presence in London- A Reminder of the Ongoing Persecution against Falun Gong

In sharp contrast to the happy celebrations in Trafalgar Square, Bo Xilai, China’s Minister of Commerce, who visits London this weekend, will find that legal proceedings have been initiated against him by UK Falun Gong practitioners for his crimes of torture against fellow Falun Gong practitioners in China. The Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard accepted the formal allegation made against Bo Xilai for serious crimes and a request for his arrest upon arrival in the UK by issuing a Crime Number.

Bo Xilai, the former Governor of Liaoning Province of the PRC, is among the delegation travelling with Wen Jiabo, the Chinese Prime Minister. When Bo Xilai served as an official in Liaoning Province, many Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to death. Persecution methods there included psychiatric misuse, sexual abuse of female practitioners, physical tortures, severe beatings, use of high-voltage electrocution, brainwashing, subjecting family members to collective punishment, and use of propaganda to incite hatred against Falun Gong.

Diplomatic Immunity is No Defence for Crimes Against Humanity

In response to the request for his arrest, New Scotland Yard have stated that Bo Xilai has full diplomatic immunity. UK Falun Gong practitioners are appealing this decision.

Legal actions against Bo Xilai have already been filed in the US and Germany.

Press Conference to Protest the Presence of Human Rights Criminal on UK Soil

Falun Gong practitioners in the UK are determined to expose, to all sections of our society, the crimes Bo Xilai and others have committed against Falun Gong practitioners in China. Human rights criminals are not welcome in the UK!

To coincide with a banquet taking place at the Chinese Embassy, Falun Gong practitioners will be holding a press conference outside the Chinese Embassy, Portland Place, London at 2pm on Sunday 9th May 2004.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa (about), is a practice of meditation and exercises with teachings based on the universal principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." Practiced in over 50 countries world-wide, Falun Gong has roots in traditional Chinese culture. With government estimates of as many as 100 million practicing Falun Gong, China's Communist leader Jiang Zemin outlawed the peaceful practice in July 1999 (report). Since that time, Jiang's regime has intensified its propaganda campaign to turn public opinion against the practice while imprisoning, torturing and even murdering those who practice it. The European Falun Gong Information Centre has verified details of 958 deaths (reports / sources) since the persecution of Falun Gong in China began in 1999. In October 2001, however, Government officials inside China reported that the actual death toll was well over 1,600. Expert sources now estimate that figure to be much higher. Hundreds of thousands have been detained, with more than 100,000 being sentenced to forced labor camps, typically without trial.