Friday, February 15, 2002 VANCOUVER (CP) - Canadian practitioners of Falun Gong say they were beaten by Chinese police following their arrests in Tiananmen Square during the largest protest yet by foreign Falun Gong followers in China.

Adrian Sturdza, of Toronto, said he had only been in the public square in Beijing a few minutes Wednesday when he was jumped by police. "They smashed my glasses and I was brought down forcibly and they walked all over me," Sturdza said after arriving back in Canada on Friday. "I think I have some broken ribs. I have trouble breathing."

Sturdza said he was brutalized in the police station.

Six Canadians had travelled to China to take part in the protest by western Falun Gong followers. China also expelled 33 Americans, four Britons and five Germans, according to news reports.

It was the biggest demonstration in Beijing yet by foreigners against a 2 -year-old Chinese [persecution] on the meditation group.

The Falun Gong spiritual movement was banned by the China's Communist government in 1999 as a threat to public safety and the regime's rule.

The movement has attracted tens of millions of followers with its slow-motion exercises, and mix of traditional Chinese beliefs and the teachings of its founder, a former Chinese government clerk named Li Hongzhi.

New York-based Falun Gong activists expected as many as 100 followers from western countries at the demonstration prior to U.S. President's George W. Bush's arrival in China next week.

Some were detained in raids on their hotel rooms before the protest.

Andrea Hayley of Victoria didn't even make it to the square before she was arrested.

Hayley said the police presence was at least five officers for every person they arrested and that they were treated brutally by police.

But Reardon Galluccio of Boston, said Asian followers are treated much worse.

"Chinese people are tortured to death for the same thing that we just walked away from," Reardon said upon arriving at the Vancouver International Airport on his way home.

"They bring us to a hotel, they beat us up, they send us home. People there, they bring them to jail and they torture them to death for the same thing."

Falun Gong supporters abroad have claimed 358 practitioners have been killed while in captivity, but Chinese authorities have denied mistreating detainees.

[...]

Chinese authorities took the unusual step this time of issuing a statement saying they had treated the detainees humanely.

Several Canadians have been expelled from China following similar protests in the past.

Foreign Affairs officials were in contact with Chinese authorities concerning the Canadians' arrest and provided consular assistance.

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