On February 21, Member of Parliament Rob Anders and two Canadian practitioners held a joint press conference at the Parliament Building in Ottawa to support the western practitioners' unselfish spirit and to call upon the Canadian government to help stop the persecution of Falun Gong. Mr. Anders initiated a nationwide drive to ask Prime Minister Jean Chretien to spearhead a resolution condemning China at next month's annual United Nations Human Rights Commission meeting in Geneva.
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| MP Anders calls for the persecution of Falun Gong to end | Jason Loftus talks about why he went to China | Adrian Sturdza talks about abuse that he suffered at the hands of the Chinese police |
Mr. Rob Anders praised the Western practitioners' courage, determination and self-sacrifice. He expressed fear that the rough treatment of the foreigners meant that Mainland Falun Gong practitioners would suffer an even worse fate. "Just imagine how Chinese citizens would be treated," he said.
Mr. Anders has written to Mr. Chretien, demanding a public condemnation of Beijing's actions and urging Canada's leadership to sponsor a Geneva motion against the persecution.
Jason Loftus, 23, one of the expelled Canadians, emphasized that the persecution is illegal. "The reason I went to China is to let the deceived people know the truth and stop the killing of innocent people. It is a national tragedy and crisis." Jason had held a press conference in China and showed a video of the so-called "self immolation incident" to international reporters and demonstrated that it was a premeditated setup.
Thursday's event came amid growing anger over last week's beatings and arrests by Chinese police of dozens of Westerners, including six Canadians, who demonstrated in Tiananmen Square in support of the Falun Gong.
Adrian Sturdza, 33, said, "I was thrown to the ground and 10 policemen stomped on me. Chinese police broke Zeon's nose and now broke my ribs, I wonder what they are going to do to Falun Gong practitioners in China."
Several news agencies including SCMP, Global Post, CFMT multicultural TV, Ming Bao and Express Net attended the press conference.
