Swiss Practitioners Hold A Press Conference in Bern; Gain Support from Congressmen and State Senators

By Swiss Practitioners

(Clearwisdom.Net) After more than a week's difficult journey, Swiss practitioners from Geneva, Zurich, Basel, St. Gallen, and other places all gathered in front of the Federal Square in the Swiss capital, Bern, for a press conference on the morning of August 23^rd. One Senator from Geneva attended the conference to give a speech; several Falun Gong practitioners also read letters and telegraphs from state Senators and Congressmen condemning the persecution of Falun Gong. Federal Government representatives had a formal meeting with the representatives of Falun Gong in the Federal Building for the first time. In addition, the government official gave a formal release that expressed the government's stance on the Falun Gong issue.

When the practitioners met each other in Bern, they were all excited--especially when they saw the Bern practitioners' newly-finished banner reading, "Zhen, Shan, Ren." They all felt very close, like they had returned home. Some practitioners even saw a rotating Falun in the sky that morning.

At 11 o'clock, the "SOS! Urgent: Rescue Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted In China" press conference started with two Swiss practitioners giving a speech. They first introduced the escalating persecution of Falun Gong by Jiang Zemin's regime. Then they called for all kind-hearted people to extend their hands and help stop the brutal persecution, release all illegally detained practitioners, and return both the freedom of belief and the right to practice to practitioners. In his speech, Geneva's Senator highly praised Falun Gong saying it was a magical self-cultivation method. Furthermore, he said that the suppression of the peaceful practice made people indignant and that Switzerland had a responsibility to stop the action.

During the press conference, seven letters and telegraphs from Congressmen and state Senators were read. All of them condemned the persecution of Falun Gong and supported the SOS urgent rescue activities; they called for the Swiss Government and other international organizations to stop China's criminal behavior. A representative from the Swiss Foreign Ministry listened to five practitioners give updates on the situation in China, where practitioners are suffering from the persecution. Afterwards, he announced the government's position on Falun Gong. According to some officials, this was the first time that a representative of the Federal Government had met with a civilian group at the Federal Building and gave a formal news release.

After the press conference and meeting with the government representatives, the Swiss practitioners went to the Chinese Embassy to submit an open letter to the Chinese Government. The embassy, however, refused to accept the letter. Outside the embassy, all the practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts to eliminate evil beings.

That day, reports from the Swiss newspaper, TV and radio stations, and other news agencies gave many objective and fair reports.

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