DPA (Deutsche Presse Agentur): China deports over fifty foreign Falun Gong followers

February 15, 2002
Saturday, February 16, 2002
Frankfurt/Main/Beijing (dpa)

Following the largest protest in Beijing by foreign Falun Gong followers from abroad to date, over fifty activists from twelve different nations were deported out of Beijing on Friday, reports the official Chinese news media "Xinhua." Seven of the deported German individuals complained about the actions of the Chinese police as these people arrived at the Frankfurt airport.

The four men and three women, according to their own reports, took part last Thursday in a demonstration at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, together with seventy other activists. With them on board the airplane was also a deported man from the Netherlands about whom it was first reported that he is still in Chinese custody.

"I have never seen or experienced anything like it. The police officers were insanely brutal," said Mrs. Annett Munter from the German Falun Gong group. Chinese officers had slammed them onto the ground during the demonstration and then dragged her into a police vehicle. During the ensuing interrogation, when she refused to reveal the name of a friend, the officers hit her in the face until she bled.

Mr. Hubert Koerper, age 45, along with his 17-year-old and 22-year-old daughters had also demonstrated at Tiananmen Square. " The place was surrounded by police officers like a reinforced fortress. When I attempted to unfurl my Falun Gong banner, I was immediately surrounded and overcome," he said. During his incarceration, only one of his daughters was with him. He did not know the whereabouts of the other daughter and was quite worried about her safety.

Altogether, 59 foreign Falun Gong followers had been arrested, reported Xinhua. The American embassy in Beijing reported that 33 Americans had been deported. More than 40 Falun Gong members participated in this protest to aid Falun Gong, which the Chinese government began to persecute in 1999, this according to official reports. Another 14 who wanted to participate in this event were arrested last Wednesday at a hotel. Among them were four British subjects, two French nationals and two Finns; those already flew out of Beijing on Thursday.

(Original text in German)