February 19, 2002

Columbia resident Sara Effner and 52 other Westerners returned home this weekend after being detained in China for protesting in Tiananmen Square.

Effner and the other Westerners traveled to Beijing to protest the Chinese government's mistreatment of followers of the Falun Gong philosophy, also known as Falun Dafa.

A total of 59 protesters were arrested, and the number of those who were Americans is still uncertain. Six protesters remain in custody, but spokesman for the Falun Dafa Information Center Adam Montanaro, said he expects all the detainees to be deported by next Tuesday.

Effner, a 25-year-old employee of Clover's Natural Market and a practitioner of Falun Gong, said the decision to protest in China was not difficult to make.

"I had wanted to go just to stand up for the other practitioners who were persecuted so badly," she said.

Effner said the demonstration was meant to be a peaceful appeal to the government.

"Our plan wasn't a protest," Effner said. "We were going to stand in Tiananmen Square and hold a banner and sing a song about how Falun Gong is good."

Effner said she was arrested while [approaching] the square. She said police swarmed the area and used brutal tactics to quickly apprehend the protesters.

"One girl in my group had a bloody nose because she had been beaten when they arrested her," Effner said. "Several of the guys got beat up pretty badly. They had black eyes and bruises."

However, Effner said the treatment she and her Western companions endured from the Chinese police pales in comparison to the level of persecution native Chinese Falun Gong believers endure.

"That was just a very small taste of how they treat their citizens. I've seen some of the pictures of the practitioners who have been beaten, and it's just terrible," Effner said. "Their bodies are black-and-blue all over, and they've been shocked by electric batons repeatedly."

Montanaro said the Chinese government launched a massive propaganda campaign in 1999 against the Falun Gong followers to turn public opinion against the group.

"Falun Gong is declared illegal in China," he said. "They're trying to create wild fear of the practitioners among the population."

Montanaro said the Chinese government turned against the Falun Gong [group] when its followers began to outnumber[party's name omitted].

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http://www.themaneater.com/story.cgi?id=12743