Report from the SOS March in Sweden

Swedish Falun Gong practitioners

Support from MP member in Sweden for practitioners' SOS-march

(Report from SOS-march in Sweden, Part 2)

It is the 3rd day of the SOS-march. So far, we have received a lot of email letters from many EU parliament members and Swedish parliament members supporting our SOS-march and condemning the Chinese government's persecution of peaceful Falun Gong practitioners. The following are some extracts:

Jonas Sjostedt, EU parliament member:

"The persecution of Falun Gong must stop. It is sad and infuriating to see Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted in China. Torture, prison and even killing practitioners are taking place in that country. It is absolutely unacceptable! It is a serious crime against the basic democratic rights and freedom of belief. The persecution must be stopped and the international organizations should strongly protest this."

Henrik Westman, Swedish parliament member:

"I am sorry that I can't come to your event, but I would like to make the following appeal to the Chinese government: Stop the persecution of the peaceful Falun Gong movement! Show that China is a modern country and respect human rights! Stop torturing and killing the peaceful Falun Gong practitioners!"

Marianne Andersson, Swedish parliament member:

"China must respect human rights according to the UN's convention."

Lennart Sacredeus, EU parliament member:

"Everyone here is setting an example of truthfulness, benevolence and forbearance. For this, you are worthy of great encouragement, support and success! The Chinese regime has on their conscience the killing of more than two hundred peaceful Falun Gong practitioners, in addition to the countless people imprisoned, persecuted and harassed, even outside of China. It is time for China's government to tell the truth and put those responsible perpetrators on trial!"

Cecilia Malmstrom, EU parliament member:

"As you all know I support you in many ways, through my articles, my statements and so on. The European Parliament has on many occasions condemned China for what has happened. I am sorry that I don't have the possibility to join you in your march because I am abroad, but I send my greetings and wish you good luck."

Reported by Swedish Falun Gong practitioners

2001-07-14

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"I admire those who walk the whole SOS-march"

(Report from SOS-march in Sweden, Part 3)

This is the 4th day of the march in Sweden. About 12 practitioners marched with us. They all have a lot of pain in their feet since they are not used to walking so long. Although they are tired, they are all in good spirits. A practitioner said that every step they made brought them nearer to rescuing those practitioners being persecuted in China.

One practitioner who came back from the first day's march because of urgent work with the website and other things told the other practitioners: "It took me a couple of days to recover after just one day's march. I admire those who do the entire SOS-march."

Seven practitioners were going to cover the whole march. They were all very confident. To be able to give up their comfort and choose to be part of this Fa-ratification activity in Sweden is really a big step on their cultivation way.

Reported by Swedish Falun Gong practitioners

2001-07-15

SOS-march Arrives in Uppsala, Sweden

(Report from SOS-march in Sweden, Part 4)

It is now day five of the march and we have covered 155 km. There are 15 practitioners taking part in the march. We walk for about 15 hours a day and we have had a lot of tribulations.

One of the practitioners had such terrible pain in his feet that he considered dropping out. We read "Lunyu" and did the 4th exercise together. He found the strength from his heart. He realized that the pain had nothing to do with the size of the physical body. He got rid of this notion and continued the march.

Many practitioners now have pains in their legs, knees and feet, but none have complained. We keep upright thoughts. We know the meaning of our SOS-march.

At noon, we arrived in Uppsala city. We held a press conference in the centre square. A Swedish parliament member, Harald Nordlund, who lives in this city, gave a speech at our press conference. A journalist from a major local newspaper interviewed the practitioners from the march. The local radio covered the news about the arrival of the SOS-march.

A lot of people stopped and watched us. They took flyers, asked questions with concern and signed our petition. Many people even showed an interest in learning Falun Gong.

After the press conference, we continued our SOS march towards Stockholm.

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