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Europe: Events Commemorate 18 Years of Falun Gong's Peaceful Resistance

July 24, 2017 |   By practitioners from Europe

(Minghui.org) Last week Falun Gong practitioners in nine countries in Europe commemorated the 18th anniversary of their peaceful resistance to the persecution by raising public awareness of this human rights crisis. This report covers the events in multiple cities in Switzerland, the U.K., Norway, Denmark, Russia, France, Austria, Romania, and Italy.

Bern, Switzerland

Swiss practitioners held activities in several places in the capital city of Bern on Thursday.

A peaceful demonstration and collecting signatures on Thunplatz (Thun Plaza)

Reading a letter in front of the Chinese embassy, urging Chinese government officials to stop following the persecution policy

Mr. Merogross, a reporter from the local TV station Tele Baern, reported on the event in front of the Chinese embassy.

Merogross had never heard about the persecution before. He praised practitioners for their efforts to inform the public. He told them that the news was scheduled to air that same night.

Demonstrating the exercises on Rosengarten, a famous tourist spot.

Demonstrating the exercises on Waisenhausplatz

Collecting signatures on Waisenhausplatz

Cambridge, U.K.

The European Tian Guo Marching Band and other practitioners held a rally and a march in Cambridge, U.K., on Saturday.

The marchThe rally before the march

Several UK parliament members sent letters of support to the rally. Practitioners also gathered on Market Square to collect signatures on the petition condemning the persecution. The rally and the march lasted four hours.

Telling people about the persecutionSigning the petition to support Falun Gong

Oslo, Norway

Norwegian practitioners held a peaceful protest in front of the Chinese embassy, demonstrated the exercises in a local park, and collected signatures in front of the parliament building July 10 and 20.

The protest in front of the Chinese embassy

Demonstrating the exercises

Telling people about the persecution in front of the parliament building

Signing the petition to condemn the persecution

Copenhagen, Denmark

Danish practitioners held protests and collected signatures downtown and in front of the Chinese embassy on July 15 and 20. They also held a candlelight vigil in the city hall plaza on July 20.

Telling tourists in downtown Copenhagen about the persecution

Practitioner Wei Zaiqun told the tourists that two of her sisters are still imprisoned in China.

“They were sentenced to seven years in 2014. We don't know much about how they are doing in prison. We cannot speak freely when we visit them,” Ms. Wei said, adding, “Sharing the information with your friends helps us.”

The candlelight vigil on city hall plaza.

At the events on city hall plaza, many Chinese tourists accepted literature from practitioners, and some of them decided to take a stance against the persecution by declaring their withdrawal from Chinese Communist Party organizations.

Russia

Russian practitioners held events in at least three different cities last week.

Collecting signatures in Chelyabinsk

In Chelyabinsk, many government officials attending another event in the same location stopped at the Falun Gong activity to sign the petition that calls upon the United Nations to investigate the state-sanctioned organ harvesting in China.

The protest in front of the Chinese consulate in Irkutsk

The protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Moscow

The candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese embassy in Moscow

Paris, France

French practitioners held a rally in front of the Chinese embassy on July 20.

The rally in front of the Chinese embassy in Paris.

Telling passersby about the persecution

Dr. Harold King from Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) spoke at the rally. He said that not many people know about the state-sanctioned organ harvesting in China, so it is very important to share the information.

“It involves many people. Patients may travel to China for organ transplants without realizing they are getting involved in this crime,” he said.

Vienna, Austria

Practitioners held a rally and a candlelight vigil in front of the Chinese embassy in Vienna. Spokeswoman for the Green Party Faika El-Nagashi spoke in support of practitioners' peaceful resistance.

The protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Vietnna

Spokeswoman for the Green Party Faika El-Nagashi

Bucharest, Romania

Romanian practitioners held banners in front of the Chinese embassy in Bucharest that read: “Stop the persecution” “Bring the perpetrators to justice,” and “Stop forced organ harvesting.”

The protest in front of the Chinese embassy in Bucharest

Rome, Italy

Practitioners in Rome, Italy, demonstrated the exercises and held a candlelight vigil in the Piazza Venezia. Many tourists watched, talked to practitioners, and took flyers. They wished the practitioners great success.

Piazza Venezia, Rome

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