Canada: Falun Gong Practitioners Hold Hunger Strike in Front of Chinese Embassy, Call for Charles Li's Immediate and Unconditional Release (Photos)
(Clearwisdom.net June 2, 2003) Falun Gong practitioners from Ottawa and Montreal began
continuous appeals on behalf of Dr. Charles Li at the Chinese Embassy on the afternoon of May
21. On Sunday, June 1, the hunger strike Dr. Li initiated to protest the severe violation of his
human rights in China entered its fourth day. The same day, practitioners from these two areas began
a hunger strike in front of the Chinese Embassy from 9am to 5pm to support Dr. Li and call for his
immediate and unconditional release. It was reported that an official of the State Department verified to a Voice of America reporter
that Charles Li, who had been sentenced to three years in prison, had started a hunger strike on May
27, 2003 in Nanjing Prison. Dr. Li was arrested upon his arrival at Guangzhou Airport from the US on January 22. The Chinese
government accused him of allegedly "preparing" to tap into Chinese state-run T.V. and
broadcast programs exposing the persecution of Falun Gong in China. After being ushered through a
"show trial" in March, Charles was sentenced to 3 years in Nanjing Prison. Here, Dr. Li
wrote a 96 page document to the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai. According to a U.S. consulate official,
however, Nanjing Prison officials removed 8 pages from the document that contained specific
information regarding Dr. Li's request to become a plaintiff in the genocide lawsuit against former
Chinese leader, Jiang Zemin, which was filed in U.S. District Court in October 2002. Presently, Charles Li's situation is very urgent. Officials at the Nanjing Prison where Dr. Li is
being held have denied him all contact with his fiancée, Ms. Yeong-ching Foo. Chinese officials
have also refused to allow U.S. consulate representatives to visit him, using the severe spread of
SARS in the region where the Nanjing Prison is located as an excuse. According to the most recent annual report of United Nations Human Rights Commission, many Falun
Gong practitioners have died while on hunger strikes in China's forced labor camps and prisons due
to forced feedings and brutal beatings. During Saturday's gathering, Ottawa practitioners read several articles in both English and
Chinese on the global lawsuit against Jiang Zemin, including Bring Jiang Zemin to Justice In
the Court of Morality, In the Court of Conscience, and In Courts of Law All Over the World and Jiang Zemin Accused of Eight
Crimes in Deceiving the World and Harming Mankind On Sunday, a practitioner participating in the hunger strike said during an interview,
"Compared to what fellow practitioners in China are experiencing, my suffering is nothing. The
persecution Charles Li has experienced has showed how fearful the instigator who single-handedly
started this persecution four years ago is before the righteous. Bringing Jiang to Justice, exposing
the evil, and upholding justice will allow more people to know the truth about Falun Gong."
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2003/6/2/51464.html
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