Falun Gong Practitioners in Boston Hold Press Conference on the "Blacklist" Issue (Photos)

(Clearwisdom.net) At noon on Thursday, July 11, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners in Boston held a press conference in front of the Massachusetts Capitol Building to address the recent incidents in which both Iceland and Hong Kong used "blacklists" provided by the Jiang Regime to refuse Falun Gong practitioners entry.

Practitioner Jian Mengyang, a 17-year-old student first talked about what she and her family encountered during their trip to Iceland. Flying on Icelandair, Jian Mengyang arrived in Iceland at 8 AM on June 10, 2002. She was stopped when passing the passport control and her U.S. citizen's passport was confiscated. She was held at the airport for more than 3 hours. Later she was told that because she practiced Falun Gong, her name appeared on a "blacklist". She and 26 other Falun Gong practitioners who took the same plane were denied entry to Iceland. They were temporarily detained at a school near the airport while they waited to be repatriated. Both Chinese and Western practitioners from several countries were detained. Practitioners explained to the Icelandic police that the purpose of their trip was to peacefully protest the Jiang regime's ruthless persecution of Falun Gong in China and to show the Icelandic people the beauty of Falun Gong. Practitioners' kindness and warmth touched the police and they were allowed to stay for another day. The Icelandic government's order of barring practitioners from entering the country brought forth a strong reaction of dissaproval from the Icelandic people, who spontaneously organized a huge parade to protest the government's decision.

Around 8 PM that night, more than 300 Icelandic people drove from the Capital to the school where practitioners were held, to protest. Around 1 AM the next morning, under the pressure of the Icelandic people, the Icelandic government allowed these 27 practitioners to enter the country. Although it appeared that the ban was lifted in Iceland, under the directive from the Icelandic government, airports around the world still refused Falun Gong practitioners' attempts to board flights to Iceland. A few days later, at Boston's International Airport, Jian Mengyang's father and other practitioners were informed, respectively, that because their names were on a "blacklist", they were not allowed to board the Icelanair flights to Iceland. Because of the blacklist, their costly air tickets and precious vacation time were wasted. What shocked people even more is the fact that a "blacklist" was used in democratic countries to persecute their citizens. Jian Mengyang called for a thorough investigation on the source of the "blacklist" and the illegal actions involved in it.

Followed Jian's speech, Luis, an American practitioner talked about what another U.S. citizen, Ms. Dan Bihan, a 68-year-old practitioner encountered in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong government used a blacklist provided by the Jiang government to forcefully repatriate Ms. Dan Bihan from the territory on June 22. Holding her U.S. passport, Ms. Dan had not previously encountered any trouble visiting Hong Kong. But this year, when Ms. Dan tried to visit Hong Kong again, she was denied entry because her name appeared on a blacklist. Ms. Dan was ordered to sign the notice of entry denial. Ms. Dan refused to do so, but the Hong Kong police forged her handwriting to sign it. Later, the police used a canvas tarp to wrap up Ms. Dan and forcibly carry her onto the flight to repatriate her. Ten days before that, holding a valid airline ticket and legal certificate, Ms. Dan tried to go to Iceland, but was informed that her name was on a blacklist and therefore she was not allowed to board the flight.

Mike, another American practitioner, talked about how an American citizen, David Jack was repatriated by the Hong Kong government on June 30 based on a blacklist. David went to Beijing to peacefully appeal for Falun Gong in February 2002. He was detained and then repatriated. He said he would like to peacefully appeal for Falun Gong again during Jiang's visit in Hong Kong, but he did not expect that Hong Kong would no longer be the same as before. The policy of "one country, two systems" exists in name only. He said that the staff of the Hong Kong customs were even ordered not to answer any questions regarding the reason for his repatriation. When he went to the restroom under escort, a customs officer said, "I don't know" (in response to the request for the reason he was being repatriated.) "But this is not good for you, nor for me". After 17 hours of detention, David was repatriated to the U.S.

Several media, including AP, Epochtimes and Xintangren TV station interviewed the practioners at the press conference.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/7/17/33433.html

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