ABOUT 300 Falun Gong followers in Macau have been prohibited from staging a demonstration during President Jiang Zemin's visit later this month for handover anniversary celebrations.
The group had applied to the Macau Municipal Council on November 27 for permission to hold a protest on December 20, the first anniversary of the handover, Hong Kong Association of Falun Dafa convenor Kan Hung-cheung said. But the council rejected the request, saying the proposed demonstration routes, which would end at the Central Government Liaison Office, would pass through areas that would either be closed for the festivities or occupied by other organisations.
A Macau Falun Gong member, who would only identify himself as Mr Lam, said the group would submit another application to the council today, proposing three new demonstration routes. One of them would end at the Central Government Liaison Office, where the practitioners hoped to hand in a petition to Mr Jiang.
"Macau is a region ruled by law,'' Mr Lam said. "Since Falun Gong is not outlawed in Macau, the council should approve our application.'' Beijing branded the Falun Gong an outlawed [group] in July last year after more than 15,000 members demonstrated in the capital. While practitioners in Macau could still exercise openly, Mr Lam said, they were being closely scrutinised by the police.
In Hong Kong, 18 legislators yesterday demanded that the Central Government protect the rights of local and mainland Falun Gong practitioners. "We cannot agree with the persecution of mainland Falun Gong members by the Central Government,'' a declaration signed by the lawmakers said. ``We therefore urge the Central Government to respect the rights and freedoms of Falun Gong practitioners, and allow them to conduct their activities freely.'' The declaration was read out at an International Human Rights Day rally, at which about 100 Falun Gong followers remembered 95 of their colleagues whom they claim were tortured to death on the mainland.
The gathering highlighted the plight of Chu O-ming, a permanent Hong Kong resident. He was arrested in Beijing nine days after he filed a lawsuit with the Supreme People's Procuratorate against President Jiang for his legal liabilities in persecuting the practitioners.
11 December 2000 / 01:30 AM
http://www.hk-imail.com/inews/public/searcharticle_v.cfm?articleid=13482
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
