My name is Tony Lingefors, and I'm a 29-year-old man from Sweden. I want you to read this letter because it is important. I am a practitioner of Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) who has practiced this wonderful spiritual practice for two years. I found it hard to understand that Falun Dafa is banned in your country, China, and it's hard to believe that Falun Gong practitioners are being tortured and persecuted when they only want to be good people.

Falun Dafa is practiced in 53 countries worldwide. We practice in parks and read the main book Zhuan Falun, a book that explains how one can become a true, good, and a patient human being.

Before I started practicing Falun Dafa I was very egotistical and had a bad temper. I also suffered from various diseases, had really bad self-confidence, and I was also very pessimistic and felt anger towards society. I also had many thoughts of ending my life, and once I tried to commit suicide, but I failed, which I am very happy about.

When I started to study Zhuan Falun I became more and more unselfish. I started to think of others before myself. I stopped stealing things and also stopped swearing and lying.

When I read the news that someone tried to set themselves on fire in Tiananmen Square on January 23, 2001, claiming they were Falun Gong-practitioners, I wondered if they really were Falun Gong-practitioners. When I saw a deconstruction of the incident, tears started to fall from my eyes -- the government had staged this incident and used innocent people to stir up peoples' hatred against Falun Gong.

I have met many Falun Gong practitioners around the world, and everybody is so nice, kind, and unselfish. I have also met many Chinese practitioners who are so kind-hearted that tears almost start to fall from my eyes when I see their unselfish behaviour.

I had to write this letter to tell the truth about Falun Gong, and please don't believe what the media in your country say about Falun Gong. Falun Gong teaches Truthfulness, Compassion and Tolerance, and this practice is wonderful for body, mind and soul. It has helped millions of people to a more healthy and harmonious life. Falun Dafa also gives answers to profound questions concerning life and the universe.

We Falun Gong practitioners here in the West are trying to raise awareness about the brutal persecution by walking SOS-marches, hunger strikes, parades, candlelight vigils and other manifestations and appeals. Maybe you have heard the news of practitioners from the West appealing in Tiananmen Square. Because the regime in your country has blocked the news-information from getting to the surrounding world, we are their only voices.

Many times I've cried when I see how Falun Gong practitioners are treated in your country. The state controlled media say that Falun Gong practitioners kill themselves or kill others. But when western media has investigated this they confirm that these stories are lies. Jiang and Luo are afraid that there are so many practitioners in your land, and that is why Falun Gong is persecuted.

I have read many fantastic stories about people telling how Falun Dafa turned their lives away from drugs, alcohol, crimes, egotism, and other unhealthy phenomena, and helped them become healthy, kind-hearted, and unselfish people. I have a friend who used drugs and committed many crimes. When he started to practice Falun Gong, he stopped doing all those immoral things, because he was awakened by the goodness in Zhuan Falun.

Below are some pictures of my friends and I trying to raise awareness about this unjust persecution so that it will end. The propaganda and the lies from the government are only damaging people. It makes innocent people hate other innocent people and makes people feel that the persecution is justified. Let people of the world know the truth of Falun Dafa, so that the truth can set us all free.

Falun Dafa hao

Here we are on a cruise where we were invited to demonstrate Falun Gong: Winter 2001.

This is just before we were going to begin our SOS march to raise awareness about the persecution. I am sitting to the right. This was summer, 2001.

Here we are practicing and at the same having a demonstration outside the Chinese Consulate in Gothenburg. Summer 2001.

Here is a picture of 36 western Falun Gong practitioners peacefully appealing on Tiananmen Square in November 2001.

Info about Falun Gong : www.yuanmingeurope.net (Chinese) www.faluninfo.net (eng)

Kindly yours,

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Tony Lingefors