Tamworth Herald (UK): One woman's fight against persecution

On Thursday 19 July, the Tamworth Herald , the quality newspaper of Tamworth, UK published a full page article about the campaign of Mrs. Yan Liu to free friends.

In January of last year, Mrs Liu whilst visiting her home country to celebrate the Chinese New Year with friends and family, was detained twice in Beijing by plainclothes policemen. The article, which covered whole page of the newspaper, explained in detail how the Chinese government persecute an innocent person.

The article explained that one of her friends had been arrested five times for practising Falun Gong in her local park, and her friend was brutally tortured by police who tried to get her to sign a repentance statement. And when she went on hunger strike in protest, she was force-fed salty water. When Mrs Liu tried to call her friend recently, she found the phone had been cut off, and to this day still cannot be traced.

The article explained that the Chinese Government launched a crackdown on the movement two years ago. Rules published on June 10 this year allow courts to try followers who spread information about Falun Gong for subversion, separatism, and leaking state secrets--all crimes punishable by death.

The article explained that there are still 450 practitioners who have been sentenced by courts, several hundred have been committed to psychiatric institutions, and as many as 10,000 are currently serving re-education through labour sentences.

In addition, the article suggested several ways in which readers can help in the campaign, including writing to MPs, the UK Foreign Secretary, and the Chinese Embassy. The article even provided the addresses and contact number.