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Toronto: Practitioners Stage a Symbolic Hunger Strike in Front of Chinese Consulate Demanding the Immediate Release of American Citizen Charles Li (Photos) By a Toronto Falun Gong practitioner (Clearwisdom.net) From 9am to 5 pm June 1 2003, Toronto Falun Gong practitioners went on
hunger strike in front of the Chinese Consulate demanding the immediate release of Charles Li, a Falun
Gong practitioner and American doctor who has been on hunger strike in a Chinese prison for five days. On
the same day, practitioners throughout Canada started hunger strike protests in front of the Chinese
Embassy and Consulates in Canada. [Insert images] Confirmed by Voice Of America, American citizen Charles Li, who was (illegally) sentenced to
three years imprisonment by the Chinese government, went on hunger strike on May 27th in
Nanjing Prison. Doctor and practitioner Ms. Zhu Dan said, "Charles is a doctor and he knows the
severe outcomes of hunger strike. Many organs are exhausted after a hunger strike and the
changes can be irreversible. If he was not persecuted so badly by the Chinese government, he would not choose
this way to protest." Mrs. Shou, who is in her 80's, said that she came to the Consulate to participate in the hunger
strike protest this morning. She was very clear about the cruel persecution of Chinese practitioners
in Mainland China. The persecution has extended to foreign countries. The Falun Gong issue is no longer
just a China issue. It is a global issue. The Chinese government uses fabricated charges to imprison
foreign citizens. We cannot allow this to continue. Doctor Charles Li was arrested immediately upon his arrival at Guangzhou airport on January 22 2003.
On March 21, after a one-day show trial, he was sentenced to three years and jailed in Nanjing
Prison. In the prison, he wrote 94 pages of material to give to the American Consul in Shanghai. But
the prison withheld 8 pages he had written related to his wanting to become party to the
lawsuit against Jiang and others for the inhumane treatment he has received. Nanjing Prison has forbidden all communications between Dr. Li and his fiancée Yongqing Foo, and
even used the prison locale's high SARS infection rate as an excuse to reject the American Consul's
request to visit him. Posting date: 6/4/2003 |