UPI: Falun Gong members say Macao police beat them

HONG KONG, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A Falun Gong practitioner claimed she was beaten by Macao police as she attempted to enter the tiny enclave on the first anniversary of its handover to mainland China, according to the South China Morning Post on Thursday.

Hospitalized in Hong Kong after being sent back from Macao with five other members of the spiritual group, Kelly Kong Xu, 42, from Sydney, Australia told the newspaper she had been beaten by a police officer who was in uniform at the Macao ferry terminal. The mother of three said police had pointed her out as a member of the spiritual group and denied her entry to the former Portuguese colony.

She said an officer punched her twice in the chest while dragging her into an elevator. She said she was then hit on the forehead with a mobile telephone and kneed in the stomach. "I told them that they were law enforcement officers and what they were doing was illegal and breaching human rights, but they just ignored me and kept hitting me," she said.

Kong said she was then carried upside down by several police officers and put on a ferry bound for Hong Kong. "My sentiment is stronger than my body pain. I just want to find a place with rule of law to tell my feeling," she said. "Where is human rights and where is justice and rule of law in Macao?"

Kong was discharged form the hospital and accompanied by officials from the Australian consulate to give a statement to Hong Kong police.

Another Falun Gong member from Hong Kong, Chau Sing, 31, claimed she had been beaten by a Macao immigration officer on Monday outside the ferry terminal. She did not report her case to the police. "The officer kept hitting me until I told him that I recognize him and I would sue him," she said.

The semi-religious group was given permission to practice their slow moving and meditation exercises in a park, which was far away from celebration sites. But due to a mix-up between security forces a group of about twelve people was detained by police but was later released.

On Tuesday dozens of the group's followers were arrested or expelled from the gambling and tourist hamlet on the eve of the handover anniversary. Some had gathered at the Lisboa Hotel with the intention of appealing to Chinese president Jiang Zemin visiting Macao for the ceremonies to ease the crackdown on the movement. China outlawed the movement last year saying [...]. The group is not illegal in Macao or Hong Kong.

Copyright 2000 by United Press International.