Li Jinyu Holds Press Conference in Montreal to Thank Those in Canada Who Helped Have Her Husband Lin Shenli Released

(Clearwisdom.net) At 10am January 29, 2002, Li Jinyu held a press conference again in Montreal to express gratitude to the Canadian people and government for their help in having her husband Lin Shenli released from Dafeng Forced Labor Camp in Jiangsu province of China. Canadian Amnesty International, La Presse, and other media agencies participated in the press conference.

Li Jinyu stated at the press conference, "On January 23, 2002, I heard my husband Shenli's voice when I called my family in Shanghai, China. It was wonderful that Shenli had been released from Dafeng Labor Camp and had returned home. It has been over two years since my husband was incarcerated in the labor camp for making a peaceful appeal for Falun Gong and expressing his honest words at the government appeal office in Beijing. This is a tragedy that should not have occurred."

She also stated, "Over the last two years, Amnesty International launched and twice re-launched a nationwide letter-writing campaign [in Canada] to appeal for Shenli's release. Over the last two years, I received over 50 letters from MPs and Senators, including a letter from the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs. They all expressed their sympathy, concern and support. I received over 100 letters from professors. Over the last two years, countless just reports from the media made the ordeal of our family known to the Canadian people. Something that I will never forget in my whole life is that on a hot summer day, Mr. Cotler and Mr. Reid joined my vigil outside the Chinese Embassy to appeal for Shenli's release."

At last she said, "I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. I thank all the kind Canadian people and I thank the Canadian government, especially the Foreign Affairs department and the Immigration department. I thank all those who are making great efforts to rescue the persecuted Falun Gong practitioners in China."

Ms. Christensen gave a speech at the conference on behalf of Amnesty International Canada, "A year ago, when we heard that Lin Shenli had been directly sent to forced labor camp without trial just because he practiced Falun Gong, we were deeply worried. We contacted our friends in the east, west, central and even north Canada through emails, post mails and fax to appeal for the released of Lin Shenli. However, when Lin Shenli's first term expired, he was not released; instead, his term was arbitrarily extended for another 6 months. Then we started another rescue call for Lin Shenli on the Internet. Today, we are glad to finally hear the news that he was released."

Also released at the press conference was a statement from MP Irwin Cotler who acted voluntarily as Li Jinyu's International Legal Counsel. Mr. Cotler stated, "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."

Falun Gong practitioners in Montreal also spoke at the conference. They pointed out that Lin Shenli's case is only one example of the tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted in China. The Jiang regime's persecution of Falun Gong is a violation of the Chinese constitution, international law, and fundamental human freedoms. The murder of Falun Gong practitioners in China has recently escalated, with over 20 deaths alone over a two-week period. Shenli's example of unbreakable faith exemplifies the situation of Falun Gong as a whole, in China and around the world, a rational belief in the principle of Truthfulness-Benevolence-Forbearance as being a righteous way, a way to peace and harmony, and something that no one can destroy.

We hope Lin Shenli can come to Canada and reunite with his wife soon.

From the release of Lin Shenli, we have once again seen the great effect of the international voice of justice. When more and more people in the world oppose the persecution against Falun Gong, when more and more Chinese people know the truth and stand up against persecuting Falun Gong practitioners, can the evil persecution in China still go on?

We are looking forward to Lin Shenli's return soon! We are also looking forward to the moment when all detained innocent Falun Gong practitioners are released unconditionally.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.cc/mh/articles/2002/1/31/24098.html

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