(Clearwisdom.net) VILNIUS, LITHUANIA, June 16 -- Today (Sunday) was a bright, sunny day in downtown Vilnius, the capitol city of Lithuania.

Approximately 30 practitioners who had come from the U.S., Canada, Australia, Germany, Sweden and Russia held a press conference in a park located blocks away from the Parliamentary buildings in the center of Vilnius so that the people who had been illegally detained at the Lithuanian border while attempting to enter the country could speak with local media about their ordeal.

The detainment of the Falun Dafa practitioners comes on the heels of news regarding a "blacklist" of Falun Dafa practitioners around the world that Jiang Zemin is pressuring countries he visits to use in order to prevent practitioners from entering those countries during his stay.

Despite the fact that it was Sunday -- a day on which many media in Lithuania do not have reporters available to cover stories -- two local television and two print media attended the press conference.

A Chinese practitioner from the UK gave the opening remarks, introducing the topics of Falun Dafa, the persecution in China and why practitioners had come to Lithuania. She then introduced Maria Sahlin from Sweden who told her story of how she was detained for over an hour and had all her belongings searched as she tried to enter Lithuania.

Bernhard Aurnhammer, a practitioner from Germany, was also stopped by police at the Lithuanian border. The police then tried to force him into a prison cell in order to detain him. Bernhard refused because he had done nothing wrong, and managed to speak with the border guards. Finally, after he was given an opportunity to reason with the police, he was released and entered Lithuania.

Approximately 8 other practitioners were also questioned at Lithuanian borders for no reason.

Practitioners then spoke personally, one-on-one with the reporters for 30 minutes regarding Falun Gong, its teachings, history and the persecution in China. Meanwhile, a group of practitioners continued to perform the exercises in the background as the TV cameramen moved around taking footage at different angles.

Some practitioners sat in different areas of the park, practicing exercise 5 or sending forth righteous thoughts. The TV cameramen walked around to film these practitioners up close.

After the press conference, practitioners sat in a large circle in the middle of the park and sent forth righteous thoughts together.

Throughout the entire event, local residents passing by were given a flyer in Lithuanian. Almost every single person happily accepted the flyer and read it intently.

Posting date: 6/18/2002
Original article date: 6/18/2002
Category: Falun Dafa Worldwide

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