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Protests to the Chinese government resulted in the release of Northwest Airlines Stewardess Tracy Zhao who was detained after photographing protests by Falun Gong Practitioners. She has returned to the United States and is speaking out against Beijing's repression.

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REUTERS REPORTS: HUNGER STRIKE STILL UNDERWAY

(Reuters February 14) More than 100 practitioners of the outlawed Falun Gong spiritual movement have been on a hunger strike since February 4 to protest their detention by mainland authorities, a human rights group said on Monday. The Information Centre of Human Rights & Democratic Movement in China said 140 Falun Gong followers began the hunger strike in the northeastern Chinese city of Changchun on the eve of the Lunar New Year on February 4.

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ANOTHER SHOW TRIAL, ANOTHER LONG SENTENCE

HONG KONG, Feb 11 (AFP) - A leader of the banned Falungong spiritual movement who led northern Chinese members in a mass protest last year has been sentenced to nine years in prison, a rights group said Friday. The Information Centre of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China said Gao Qiuju, 59, was Falungong's leader in the city of Dalian since 1994 and its most prominent member in north-east China. The Hong Kong-based centre said authorities accuse Gao, a trading company manager, with bringing hundreds of fellow practitioners from Dalian to Beijing to join an April 25 a demonstration of some 10,000 followers around the headquarters of the Communist Party.

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"YOUR HOME IS NOT YOUR CASTLE" WHEN YOU PRACTICE FALUN GONG.

Xiao-yu Zhang, practitioner from the Guang-rong district of Chengdu City, was arrested because when she practiced Falun Gong exercises at home, an official of the residential committee heard the practice music and reported her. She was given a 15 days of administrative detention.

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JUDGE JAILED IN MENTAL HOSPITAL, GIVEN DANGEROUS INJECTIONS

BEIJING (AP) - A judge who refused to renounce his belief in the banned Falun Gong movement has been committed to a psychiatric hospital and injected with drugs daily, a rights group in China said Friday. Huang Jinchun displayed no symptoms of mental illness either at work or after being sent to the hospital nearly three months ago, the Hong Kong-based Information Center of Human Rights and Democratic Movement in China reported, citing former colleagues and nurses.á But at the Longqianshan Psychiatric Hospital in the southern Guangxi region, medical personnel gave Huang daily injections of a narcotic that left him sleepy and muddled, after he refused to stop practicing Falun Gong, the rights group said.

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UNIVERSITY APPEAL REVEALS EXTENT OF PERSECUTION OF ACADEMIC LIFE

People throughout China have a right to appeal to their government. Many Falun Gong practitioners have been exercising that right, including students and staff members at Tsinghua University. Their appeal letter underscores how government repression is not confined to arresting practitioners who appeal in public places. Their letter highlights the ways the regime punishes ordinary people for speaking out.á "After the Chinese government denounced Falun Gong and made it illegal on July 22, 1999, some of our prominent members were requested to break away from Falun Gong, while the students were ordered to discontinue the practice and hand in Falun Gong books and materials. However, the majority of the student practitioners went on practicing. The university administration put most of the students who were determined in their practice of Falun Gong on suspension and forced them to go home after the Chinese government further declared Falun Gong an "evil religion". The University also asked parents to participate in transforming their children so as to "keep pace with the Central Communist Committee". At the same time, some of the teachers were either suspended from work for "introspection" or sent to "reform". These people could not resume their education or work unless they took a stand against Falun Gong and promised not to practice any more. Under pressure from both the University and parents, some of us wrote the "confession" unwillingly. Those who refused were put under house confinement to achieve "mind-changing."

PRESS DISTORTION ALERT: An unknown man, described as mentally disturbed by police who had attempted to file four appeals on various issues in Beijing reportedly set off a bomb in Tiananmen Square to commit suicide.á A press reporter then linked the action to Falun Gong:á "The BBC's Adam Brookes in Beijing says many people in the capital are speculating that the attack may be related to the Falun Gong movement, which has been holding protests in Tiananmen Square." The BBC's source: "many people," none cited by name or any attempt to seek a statement from Falun Gong which is well known for only mounting non-violent protests.

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WHAT IS FALUN DAFA / FALUN GONG?

Falun Dafa (or Falun Gong) is what Chinese tradition calls a "cultivation practice".á Falun Gong helps improve health and overall mental and physical wellness through a series of high-level easy to do exercises and meditations. A person's practice deepens as they study the universal laws/principles based on Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. Millions of practitioners have reported dramatically improved health and a deepened spiritual awareness.á All Falun Dafa activities are free of charge.

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Please call us for background on the spiritual practice and the crisis in China.á Contact Gail Rachlin at Rachlin Management & Media Group: 212 501-8080.á Also visit http://www.falundafa.org.á News stories and reports from China at http://www.falunwisdom.net.