(Clearwisdom.net, July 25, 2003) Since July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime has illegally persecuted Falun Gong practitioners. During the past four years, Jiang's regime has set up and carried out state terrorism in China. Official information indicates that 757 Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death. Among them, 48% are female and 26.5% are aged between 50 and 70. Chinese official statistics, as of late October 2001, show that 1,600 detained Falun Gong practitioners have been killed, at least 6,000 people have been illegally imprisoned, more then 100,000 are detained in labor camps, and several thousand practitioners have been sent to psychiatric hospitals and injected with medicines that can damage the central nervous system. An enormous number of Falun Gong practitioners have been abducted to "brainwashing classes" and suffered mental abuse. Hundreds of millions of practitioners and their family members, friends and colleagues suffer from implication as well as brainwashing to various extents.
The genocide and state terrorism committed by Jiang's group, which violate international human rights conventions, have incurred protests throughout the world, including the vast, compassionate people in Russia and areas of the former Soviet Union.
Between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. on July 20, practitioners from Russia and other areas of the former Soviet Union held a peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Embassy in Moscow. They demanded that the Jiang regime stops persecuting Falun Gong immediately. They also demanded that Jiang's group stops framing Falun Gong by spreading lies and propaganda. The press release that Russian Dafa practitioners sent to the media and general public stated, "We call upon all of the compassionate people, governments and media to condemn the crimes committed by Jiang's group, and the unlawful diplomatic pressure put on foreign countries. Put a stop to the persecution of Falun Gong. The criminals who commit torture, anti-human behavior and genocide should be brought to justice and legal punishment!"
Representatives of Dafa practitioners from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Ukraine and Latvia attended the gathering. The banners and information boards displayed by the practitioners read, "We Support the Public Trials of Jiang Zemin!", "Stop Persecuting Falun Gong!" and "Restore Falun Gong Practitioners' Freedom of Belief!" Throughout the three-hour gathering, practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts.
This gathering aroused the attention of the general public and media. Some news agencies conducted on-site coverage. The "Information Centre for the Movement of Defending Power" proactively distributed the practitioners' press release by e-mail.
Source: http://clearharmony.net/articles/200307/14007.html
