Large Scale Media Coverage of Falun Dafa in Finland

There were two of us Falun Dafa practitioners from Finland who went to Beijing last month. However, we didn't make it to Tiananmen to appeal with the other western practitioners, as the Beijing police raided all the hostels in the city on Wednesday, the day before the appeal, and arrested us when they found our Dafa materials. We were deported the next day after being illegally detained for 19 hours.

When we returned to Finland, the media showed great interest in what had happened. We held a press conference the next day, and two of the major television channels in Finland, a radio station, and numerous newspapers covered the story. It appeared in the televised evening news three times, and it was not just news about us being detained and deported, but the persecution was also covered very well. Even footage of the Tiananmen police brutality was aired. The persecution was also covered in the newspapers. Some of the newspapers were interested to know more about Falun Dafa itself, so as to write a more comprehensive article about it in the future. One newspaper contacted us a few days later, since they had missed the story when we returned. This is very unusual, as the media naturally likes their news "fresh." This newspaper published an article 5 days after the incident! The next week, a television station invited one practitioner to join their Saturday morning magazine, and the biggest newspaper in Finland had a long article on Falun Gong in their Sunday supplement.

Below are some quotes from the newspapers.

From a "fact box" in the article: ... - Falun Gong is a principle descended from ancient China in which both mind and body are practiced. Falun Gong includes peaceful and gentle exercises of the body and meditation. -- The goal of Falun Gong is to have a person follow the principles of "Truth-Compassion-Tolerance." Followers of the principles will never resort to violence. ...

... Many have in vain tried to appeal to the Chinese embassies in their home countries. Falun Gong is practised in 53 countries; they want to show that this is not only China's domestic issue, but also an international one. ...

... The movement has not been banned or found to be dangerous in any other country.

... China has started a violent campaign against many religious groups, and some Christians have even been executed in the recent months. On Monday an American human rights association Freedom House published seven "secret" documents, which showed the Chinese government's determination to bring religions under control, even with violence. "Categorise them and use forceful measures if needed." The vice leader of the Anhui county public security police Sun Jianxin guides his subordinates in one of the documents believed to be genuine.

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