Witness (Reuters): China Holds Western Falun Gong Protesters

Thu Mar 7,12:38 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese police detained seven foreign members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement, believed to be Australian, Thursday for protesting in Beijing's Tiananmen Square, a witness said.

The demonstrators were whisked away in a police van after staging a protest as China's annual two-week parliament session was underway close by.

At least three onlookers taking pictures were taken for questioning at a nearby police station, the witness said.

The demonstrators were detained in a holding room at the police station where they sat in a circle and meditated, he said.

The protest is the latest in a string of demonstrations by Western Falun Gong members in the vast and politically sensitive square. China expelled 53 Westerners detained for a similar protest last month.

Falun Gong activists in Australia said a group of their members was in Tiananmen Square making a "direct peaceful appeal" to China to "stop the state terrorism" against them.

"We are voicing the hearts of thousands of practitioners who are illegally detained and tortured in labor camps and mental institutions throughout China to have their freedom restored...," they said in a statement.

The group said it was not against the Chinese government and cited article 35 of the Chinese Constitution which it said allowed freedom of speech, of assembly and of demonstration.

"We call upon the Australian government and the whole international community to stand up for truth, compassion and forbearance and help free the Falun Dafa (Gong) practitioners in China as their basic human rights are being denied," the statement said.

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