2002-03-11

China [Falun Gong Group] (CANBERRA)

The widow of a Falun Gong practitioner murdered in China has thanked the Australian government for bringing home his ashes.

Fighting back tears and clutching her 18-month-old daughter FADU, JANE DAI said her husband DAYONG died because of his adherence to the Falun Dafa principles of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance.

Some 50 Australian supporters of the movement, each clutching a yellow flower, gathered outside the Chinese embassy in Canberra to provide support.

Mrs DAI, an Australian citizen, says she's proud of her husband. He was arrested last July and apparently beaten to death while in custody, his body later dumped in a field.

Falun Gong is a practice of meditation and exercises which originated in China and has followers in 50 countries. The Chinese government banned it in 1999.