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Edmonton Journal: City man describes ordeal after Beijing roundup of Falun Gong Hit, arm twisted and interrogated during detention By Larry Johnsrude Tuesday, February 19, 2002 An Edmonton practitioner of Falun Gong is glad to be safely back at his temporary home in Warsaw,
Poland, after being rounded up with about 60 other foreigners at Tiananmen Square in Beijing last
week and jailed for their beliefs. Thomasz Ozimek, 27, says he was beaten and thrown into a cell before being put on an airplane and
sent back to Poland for protesting the China's sanctions against the spiritual group [...]. "It was definitely a harrowing experience," he said from Warsaw, where he is teaching
English. "It had the character of a kidnapping more than an arrest. The thought crossed my mind that
the authorities could have just as easily have killed one of us. Certainly, there was an element of
fear that I tried not to think about." His ordeal began Wednesday night, the day before he and about 100 other practitioners of Falun
Gong from around the world were to hold a protest in Tiananmen Square against the Chinese
government's persecution of the faith's followers. He said he learned from other practitioners that Chinese police were rounding up foreigners, so
he fled from his hotel room and spent the night in hiding. When he made it to Tiananmen Square the
next day, police stopped him, searched his bag and threw him in a van and took him to the police
station. "They dragged me inside, twisted my arm, hit me a few times and took away my things,"
he said. "I sat on the floor with my legs crossed, trying to calm myself down, as they dragged other
people in and slapped and stomped on them." He and about 60 others were put on a bus and taken to a hotel used as a detention centre. They
were held in a room without food and water for 18 hours while they were interrogated. "We demanded to see consular officials but they refused," he said. "Never at any
point were any of us ever formally charged with anything. I know there were Westerners arrested in
the square who were just tourists." He said he was driven to the airport and loaded on a plane for Moscow. Chinese officials kept his
return airline ticket to Warsaw, jacket, books, CD player and even his shoes. "I was essentially deported," he said. "I arrived at the Moscow airport barefoot
and with no airline ticket from Moscow to Warsaw. Airport authorities took pity on me and helped me
on my way after a cold night on a cement floor at the airport." He was among six Canadians rounded up by the Chinese police. He arrived back in Warsaw on
Saturday. A practitioner of Falun Gong for the past two and half years, he said he relied on the belief's
meditation techniques to get him through the ordeal. "I had to keep a cool head. I just tried to stay relaxed and follow the principles of Falun
Gong, which are Truth, Compassion, [Forbearance] and not bearing any grievance against the police
officers and not to react in an aggressive manner." He has launched an official protest with Chinese authorities. He has been living in Warsaw since
September and plans to stay there until June. He was born in Poland and came to Canada with his
family when he was seven. His mother, Grace Schlesinger of Edmonton, said she was relieved when he called her to say he had
been released from custody and is back in Warsaw. http://www.canada.com/search/site/story.asp?id=38D46765-2286-432D-8D78-10A448F58DC4 Posting date: 2/20/2002
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To Fellow Practitioners
on February 13
Tom Ozimek and Li Ping practise Falun Dafa (also known as Falun
Gong) in Edmonton's Ezio Farone Park last October.
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