Reuters: China detains 2,000 for Falun Gong TV demo-group

Thu Apr 25, 8:50 AM ET

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has detained 2,000 [practitioners] of the banned Falun Gong spiritual group and sent 150 to labour camps after [practitioners used] state television to air a protest video, a Hong Kong-based rights group said on Thursday.

A policeman stands guard as Swiss Falun Gong practitioners meditate outside a Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong in March. A Hong Kong-based rights group said on April 25 China has detained 2,000 followers of the banned sect and sent 150 to labour camps after member [used] state TV to air a protest video.

REUTERS/Bobby Yip

Reuters Photo

Nine people would go on trial next month for the protest in the northeastern city of Changchun, the Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement.

Changchun police declined to comment but a city prosecutor said at least two Falun Gong followers charged with the March 5 television protest would stand trial in May. She declined to give their names, saying the case was "confidential".

Security was tight on Tiananmen Square on Thursday, the third anniversary of a demonstration by thousands of Falun Gong members outside the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing that sparked a fierce government [persecution].

Uniformed and plainclothes police officers patrolled the vast plaza, checking identification and searching bags in what have now become routine security measures following repeated protests on the square since Beijing banned the group in 1999.

The anniversary fell just two days before Vice President Hu Jintao begins his first official visit to the United States, where he is likely to face criticism over China's human rights record, especially the campaign against Falun Gong.

POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

To mark the anniversary, Falun Gong issued a statement from New York saying Chinese officials had told practitioners in April 1999 to go to Beijing to raise their concerns at a cabinet appeals office near the leadership compound.

The Falun Dafa Information Centre accused Chinese President Jiang Zemin of using the peaceful protest as an excuse to launch a political campaign consolidating his power.

"Jiang would have the world believe this was a politically motivated gathering to 'besiege' the central government compound, and has since used the event to justify a nearly three-year campaign of terror against innocent Chinese citizens who practice Falun Gong," the statement said.

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Falun Gong says thousands of its followers have been sent to labour camps without trial and more than 1,600 have died in custody from police brutality.

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(With additional reporting by John Ruwitch)

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