M.P. Irwin Cotler's Statement on Shenli Lin's Release
COMMUNIQU á For Immediate Release Wednesday, January 30, 2002 Cotler delighted with release of imprisoned Falun Gong practitioner and husband of Canadian citizen. But calls Dramatic Increase in Persecution of Falun Gong
"alarming". á OTTAWA: The following is the text of a statement released by M.P. Irwin Cotler,
International Legal Counsel to JinYu Li, on the occasion of the release of her husband ShenLi Lin
from prison in China. We are all delighted to learn of ShenLi Lin's release and the opportunity for his
reunification with his wife. This delight is tempered by the realization that ShenLi Lin should never have
been arrested to begin with; that he should never have been imprisoned, held incommunicado, and
subjected to coercive interrogation for over two years; and JinYu Li should never have been deprived
of the companionship and the shared life with her husband. It would be too much to expect that the Chinese authorities will make restitution
for this false imprisonment, and unjust deprivation of liberty. We do trust, that at the very least,
they will facilitate his departure and reunification with JinYu Li. We would be remiss if we did not make mention of, and indeed sound the alarm
about, the dramatic increase in the persecution of the Falun Gong, including, the increase in the
rate of arrest and detention; the increase of deaths of Falun Gong in detention; the pervasive
torture of Falun Gong detainees; and the use of atrocity propaganda to demonize Falun Gong in the
eyes of their fellow citizens, a group of people whose commitment is to nothing else but the ancient
Chinese and humanistic values of "Truth, Compassion, Forbearance". We call upon the Chinese authorities to: á For further information, please contact: Irwin Cotler, O.C., M.P. or Tanis Gilbert, EA (613) 995-0121
Yearly Archive
Printer Version
feedback@clearwisdom.net