Queensland, Australia: Falun Gong Practitioners Hold Memorial on the 3rd Anniversary of Jiang's Persecution of Falun Gong (Photos)

By a practitioner from Queensland, Australia

(Clearwisdom.net) July 20, 2002 marked the 3^rd anniversary of the Jiang regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong. At 11 AM, Falun Gong practitioners from Queensland gathered solemnly at King George Square and started a one-day memorial activity. At the commemoration ceremony, Mr. John, a State Senator for Queensland, attended the activity representing the Australian Democrats Party and delivered a powerful speech, expressing his support of Falun Gong practitioners and their right to live and enjoy freedom of belief. He also raised his extreme concerns on the issue that the Jiang regime utilizes means such as trade to put pressure on the Australian government, attempting to interfere with practitioners' legal rights of practicing Falun Gong and their rights of peaceful appeal. To express appreciation, practitioners presented the Senator and other honored guests with hand-made paper lotus flowers and Falun Dafa cards imprinted with "Poem of Lotus Flowers." Then a western practitioner delivered a speech. He talked about the terrible experience he had gone through at the Hong Kong airport, where he was unreasonably denied entry and unlawfully detained for more than 50 hours. He called for people all over the world to pay attention to the Jiang regime's brutal persecution of Falun Gong.

At 1 PM, practitioners set off on a parade encircling the downtown area. A huge wreath led the procession, followed by a truck decorated with a book model of Zhuan Falun and banners reading, "Come Together to End the Persecution." Female practitioners wore white dresses, holding in their hands photos of those practitioners who have lost their lives due to the persecution. Male practitioners dressed in black suits followed them. It is worth mentioning that because of the frequent contacts with practitioners, the police deeply trust practitioners and have approved our parades on several occasions. When we held a parade for the first time, the police acted as if they were facing a formidable foe and dispatched many officers to the streets. Later, fewer and fewer policemen were sent to keep order for the parade. This time, one could only see policemen at intersections directing traffic.

After the parade ended, practitioners sat on the ground and held an experience sharing conference to exchange their understandings and experiences in spreading Dafa all over the world. In the evening, practitioners carried out a candlelight walk, which attracted many people's attention. Finally, practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts simultaneously with other practitioners all over the world to conclude the one-day activity.
Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2002/7/22/33687.html

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