(Clearwisdom.net) On August 24, the Italian newspaper Il Giornale once again reported the news of Falun Gong practitioners being persecuted to death at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.

The article said that two practitioners from Shandong Province were tortured to death in prison. 58-year-old Zhong Zhenfu was beaten to death in Pingdu Police Station. Liu Xiumei from Zhucheng was arrested in July, but 17 days later he died of unknown causes. When International News Service (INS) reporters tried to interview local Chinese officials about these events, the officials had nothing to say.

In order to avoid protests during the Olympics, Beijing authorities issued warrants to arrest Falun Gong practitioners. In recent months, over 8000 practitioners have been illegally arrested and detained.

The article explained that practitioners do exercises and sit in meditation in accordance with Buddhist and Taoist traditions. On April 25, 1999, over ten thousand practitioners went to Beijing to make a peaceful appeal for their right to freedom of belief. A few months later, the CCP launched the brutal persecution of Falun Gong.