Visby, Sweden: Falun Gong Practitioners Participate in Political Forum Week

(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioners in Sweden participated in Almedalen Week, also known as the Politicians’ Week in Almedalen, from June 23 to 27, 2025. Almedalen is a park in Visby on the island of Gotland in Sweden.

Practitioners introduced Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) and told people about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 26-year-long persecution. Their efforts received the attention and support of a number of Swedish politicians and the public.

Almedalen Week began in 1968. Every summer, politicians from different parties, businesses, media, non-governmental organizations, and individuals from all circles gather in this medieval city to hold seminars on topics such as current social issues, technological research and development, politics, economics, and culture. The event this year had over 2,400 forums. Around 100,000 people attended.

Falun Gong practitioners in Sweden raise awareness during Almedalen Week in Visby, Gotland, on June 23–27, 2025.

Government Officials Voice Support

This annual political forum week is a traditional, large-scale event for politicians and citizens to interact. During the event, practitioners visited a number of Swedish Members of Parliament (MPs), city councilors, and staff members and spoke with them in depth about Falun Gong.

M. Melin MP happily shook hands with practitioners and said, “I’ve seen you (Falun Gong practitioners) many times!” Mr. Melin is a former police officer and, on multiple occasions, performed security tasks at practitioners’ peaceful protest events in front of the Chinese embassy. He said he clearly remembers practitioners’ peaceful and rational demeanor in protesting the persecution. He expressed discontent toward the embassy’s act of playing songs loudly multiple times to disrupt practitioners who were reading open letters to the embassy. He said, “Swedish police have a very bad impression of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Gothenburg City Councilor E. Lann also met Falun Gong practitioners multiple times. When she saw their event raising awareness of the CCP’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting at the city center, she spoke with practitioners for a long time. Ms. Lann sent support statements and greetings for practitioners’ events protesting the persecution on multiple occasions. She said that she is also working with politicians from other democratic countries in the IPAC (Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China) to stop the CCP’s crimes.

People Support Practitioners at Donners Plats

During Almedalen Week, practitioners held rally speeches, exercise demonstrations, and organ-harvesting reenactments at Donners Plats at the city center every noon to expose the ongoing persecution. Many people signed the petition calling to stop the persecution. One person even volunteered to take the stage to speak and urge people to pay attention to the ongoing persecution and help stop the CCP’s crimes of persecuting Falun Gong and harvesting organs.

Practitioners share information about Falun Gong and the CCP’s persecution at Visby’s central square, Donners Plats.

After learning about Falun Gong, Helene from Lund, Sweden, gave a speech urging the public to pay attention to Falun Gong and help stop the persecution.

Practitioner T. Nordstrand said that he and 35 other Western practitioners went to Tiananmen Square in 2001 to peacefully petition for Falun Gong and opened up a banner worded: “Truthfulness, Compassion, Tolerance.” He said the police in China violently arrest people. Young practitioner Daniel talked about how he was persecuted for practicing Falun Gong when he was in elementary school. Mr. Kong, a doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine, talked about his experience of being illegally detained and persecuted in prison in China because he refused to give up practicing Falun Gong. China expert Mr. Wu talked about current affairs and explained to people in depth the CCP’s true nature and ambitions.

There was a lot of traffic at Donners Plats at noon, and the practitioners’ event attracted many passersby to stop and watch. Some carefully listened to the speakers at the rally, and some spoke with practitioners to learn more. Among the people who passed by were ministers, party leaders, and lawmakers.

One politician told practitioners that he admired the perseverance and courage of practitioners who, for a long time, have used peaceful and rational ways to clarify the facts to various parts of society. “Thank you for your persistence!” he said. The manager of a new political party complimented practitioners and said they were doing a great job, “You are the best during the whole Almedalen Week. I hope you keep doing this important job.”

Human rights activist Margit said, “I saw you many times, but this year I actually heard the message. So I also went and watched the documentary State Organs.” She said that she was very shocked by the CCP’s crime of forced organ harvesting. She then learned more. She also asked for practitioners’ contact information and invited them to the city in which she lives to raise awareness and expose the crime of organ harvesting. She thought what practitioners are doing is very important and that the truth should be known by more people.

Screening of State Organs

On June 26, the award-winning documentary State Organs was screened during Almedalen Week for the first time. Nearly 100 people attended. The film became the focus of discussions by seminars related to China. Audience members were shocked by the truth revealed in the film and urged an end to the CCP’s brutality of forced organ harvesting. Some media reporters also attended the screening and reported on it.

Ms. Wu from Taiwan watched the film after she saw on the website that Almedalen Week had seminars and State Organs would be shown. After watching the film, she said that although she already knew about the CCP’s crimes, it was still very shocking. “More people should come learn the truth,” she said.

Ms. Wu’s daughter said, “Forced organ harvesting has violated the moral bottom line of humankind. But a lot of people are afraid to say no to the CCP.” She hoped that more people would see State Organs, take the initiative to learn the truth, and learn to think independently.

For many years, Andreas Nordin has educated young people about the genocide during World War II. After watching the documentary, he thanked those who showed the film for bringing the truth to everyone. He said, “Falun Gong is based on the beautiful values of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, but is brutally persecuted by the CCP. This shocked me very much.” He hopes that more people learn about the truth.

People Enjoy Falun Gong and Appreciate Shen Yun

Practitioners did the Falun Dafa exercises next to their booth. They also handed out materials to passersby, spoke to people about the persecution, and collected signatures. Many passersby said their booth was the most peaceful place at Almedalen. A number of people learned the exercises.

Practitioners demonstrate the Falun Dafa exercises, speak to people, and collect signatures.

People learn the Falun Dafa exercises.

Some children asked practitioners to show them the exercises. Their parents talked with practitioners to learn more about Falun Dafa.

Two young Swedish women learned the exercises and thanked practitioners.

Two young Swedish women said they heard about Falun Gong last year. This year, they learned more about Falun Gong and asked to learn the exercises. After they did them, they said they saw lights of many colors. When they did the second exercise, they both said they felt their bodies were surrounded by powerful energy. They said that kind of wonderfulness could not be put in words. They were very emotional and expressed their appreciation. Before they left, they also obtained a copy of Falun Gong and said they would carefully read it.

A family of three (a mother and her daughters) from Linköping stayed for a long time at the booth. The mother told practitioners that they came here to talk to practitioners and express their appreciation. She explained that they’ve received information about Shen Yun’s performances in Linköping for three years, and the family finally saw the performance this spring. The mother said it was the most beautiful and best performance they had ever seen. She was moved to tears as she talked and expressed her appreciation for Falun Gong and Shen Yun. The family of three was moved by practitioners’ persistent efforts in clarifying the facts and spoke with practitioners for a long time.

A student from China said she never heard anything about the June 4, 1989, incident when she was in China, and her knowledge of Falun Gong was limited to the lies told by the CCP. When she learned about the CCP-staged self-immolation incident, she exclaimed, “Oh my God! This thing must be told!” She took a copy of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party, and said she would read it and then consider withdrawing from the CCP and its affiliated organizations on The Epoch Times website.