(Clearwisdom.net) On February 14, 2004, Melbourne Falun Gong practitioners held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate-General, protesting the latest deaths of Falun Gong practitioners as a result of the persecution, and calling for bringing the chief perpetrator Jiang Zemin, and other officials mainly responsible for the deaths, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang, and the murderers to justice.

A Falun Gong spokesperson in Melbourne said, "On the evening of the Valentine's Day when couples celebrate being together, we cannot forget our friends, relatives and fellow practitioners in China who are suffering persecution. Recently, more Falun Gong practitioners died as a result of the persecution. The known death toll has rapidly increased to 884. In addition, Chinese police have recently launched a new round of large-scale raids and arrests, and many practitioners have been taken away."

She said that technically speaking, what the Falun Gong practitioners in China are suffering is genocide according to the definition of the 1948 U.N. Convention Against Genocide.

She continued that on June 6, 1999 the dreaded "6-10 Office" was set up to systematically and exclusively persecute Falun Gong on the orders of Jiang Zemin. It employs imprisonment without trial, forceful indoctrination, sexual and psychiatric abuse, torture (inflicted even upon the elderly and very young), and murder. Its aim is to terrorize and dominate the minds of Falun Gong practitioners to the point where they succumb and give up the spiritual practice that gave them improved health and high moral character.

She also said that Jiang has attempted to 'eradicate' Falun Gong by whatever means necessary. The choices Falun Gong practitioners are given is "transform or die." Jiang's strategy has been to "defame their reputations, bankrupt them financially, destroy them physically," and "the death of Falun Gong practitioners from beating is nothing and shall be counted as suicide; the body shall be directly cremated without investigating the person's identification."

On February 14, the temperature in Melbourne reached as high as 41 degrees C. The hot weather didn't affect Falun Gong practitioners' resolution to rescue their fellow practitioners in China. Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Ling said, "Some people say that we are involved in politics, some say that we are against the Chinese government, but actually neither of them is correct. We don't have any political agenda; our sole purpose to come here is to call upon kind-hearted and righteous people around the world to show concern over this escalating persecution of Falun Gong in China. We also call for bringing the chief perpetrators Jiang Zemin, Luo Gan, Liu Jing and Zhou Yongkang, and the police who murdered Falun Gong practitioners to justice."

One coordinator in the Melbourne Falun Dafa Association expressed that Jiang should be held accountable for killing innocent Falun Gong practitioners and be put on trial. He has been sued for the crimes of genocide, torture and crimes against humanity around the world. One of his crimes was staging the "Self-immolation on Tiananmen Square to frame and slander Falun Gong practitioners."

Australian National TV Station, TV Channel No.9, New Tang Dynasty TV and the Epoch Times in Melbourne came to conduct interviews.