March 13, 2002

MONEY from a wedding gift funded a two-day trip to China that ended in a Melbourne couple's arrest and deportation. Jarrod Hall, 23, and his wife Emma, 22, said they were kicked, punched and strip-searched by Chinese police after being arrested in Tiananmen Square on Sunday. "It was terrifying," said Mr Hall, recounting the couple's 15-hour detention in an underground car park in central Beijing. The Falun Gong practitioners from Surrey Hills travelled to China to protest against the Government's ban on the spiritual movement.

Standing in Tiananmen Square on Sunday, the couple kissed, hugged and unfurled their banner. With policeman just metres away, the couple knew they would be arrested. "But we had to do it," Mr Hall said. "We had to show our support for the Chinese people."

Amnesty International reports tens of thousands of Chinese practitioners have been arbitrarily detained since the Chinese Government outlawed the movement in 1999. In Melbourne yesterday, Mr Hall said hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners had been killed. Mr Hall said police kicked his groin and pushed him against the wall with a hand to his throat.

But the couple, who were kept in adjoining cells, said they took solace in singing to each other. And while the couple have never really had a honeymoon, Mr Hall agreed the wedding gift was well spent. "I don't know any other way we could have made our protest," he said. The arrests followed the deportation of four Australian protesters on Friday.