(Minghui.org) On March 17, 2012, Falun Gong practitioners held activities in Helsinki to raise awareness about Falun Gong and the 12-year brutal persecution of this peaceful meditation group by the Chinese Communist Party.

A young man learns about the persecution of Falun Gong

People stop to learn the information about the persecution

A lot of passersby learned about the cruel persecution happening in China by reading the leaflets and the contents of the display panels. Many of them expressed concern and sympathy for Falun Gong and praised practitioners’ efforts to end the persecution.

A young man signed the petition to call for an end to the persecution after he read the flyers. After practitioner shared with him the details of the brutal persecution of Falun Gong in China, he said, “I am going to cry! How terrible! I will tell all of my relatives and friends about this. I will post this information on Facebook to let everyone I know learn about the persecution in China.” He then took pictures of the display panels that contained photographic evidence of the brutal persecution.

Participating in the event was Ms. Jin Zhaoyu, a practitioner from northern Finland who is calling for help to rescue her mother, Ms. Chen Zhenping. Ms. Chen was sentenced to eight years in prison during a secret trial held by the district court of the Jinshui District, Zhengzhou City, Henan Province, simply because she practiced Falun Gong. Prison authorities took away her relatives’ visitation rights because she refuses to give up her belief. Ms. Jin held a panel that read, “Please help rescue my mother,” which drew a lot of attention from passersby. Ms. Jin said she will continue to appeal for her mother’s freedom until she is released.

Finnish TV media came to cover the event and Ms. Jin’s appeal to rescue her mother.