April 25, 2002
(Clearwisdom.net) April 25th was the third anniversary of the peaceful appeal of Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing in 1999. About 200 Hong Kong practitioners held a two-hour commemoration activity at the Edinburgh Square in front of Zhonghuan Conference Hall. Practitioners sent forth righteous thoughts every half hour with exercises in between. Falun Dafa practitioners read their statement: three years after the April 25th peaceful appeal in Beijing, "Coercion cannot change people's hearts", Jiang's illegal persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners cannot silence the voice of Falun Dafa practitioners seeking justice. On the contrary, because of the persistence of Falun Dafa practitioners in clarifying the truth, more and more westerners get to know and even start to practice Falun Dafa; more and more people and organizations with a sense of righteousness joined forces to support Falun Dafa practitioners' freedom of belief; more and more countries expressed their sympathy and concern for the persecution of Falun Dafa. Three practitioners handed over the appeal letter, truth-clarifying photo album and VCD to the legislature.
This activity was originally planned to be held from 3 to 5 p.m. at Chater Garden adjacent the Legislature Building. Because of an accident, Chater Garden was closed and the activity was held in a different location on very short notice. Because of the location change, we got a chance to communicate with different people. The truth-clarifying materials were distributed more quickly, and many people stopped to greet us and express their support from time to time.
Because today is a special day, nearly 200 practitioners participated in the activity. After sitting down in an orderly fashion, the practitioners started today's activity by sending forth righteous thoughts. Some practitioners stood in the back holding a banner, which reads, "Eliminate the evil and stop the persecution with righteous thoughts, create a peaceful and just environment", reflecting exactly the situation of Falun Dafa practitioners in Hong Kong. Because of the policy of "one country two systems," practicing Falun Dafa is still legal in Hong Kong. However, this policy is carried out in an ever-weakening way as time goes on. Bowing to the pressure of Jiang's regime, Hong Kong authorities treat people and groups with "different ideas" in an increasingly unjust and unreasonable way. To create a peaceful and just environment under the current situation in Hong Kong, practitioners must continue to eliminate the evil with righteous thoughts and clarify the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa. At the same time practitioners also must look inside themselves and allow no loopholes for the evil to take advantage of.
This morning, over 20 practitioners successfully held a three-hour long commemoration activity outside the China's Liaison Office Building under tight police surveillance.
The abuse of the Falun Dafa practitioners appealing outside the China's Liaison Office Building in the past further indicated that some Hong Kong authorities intended to turn the square in front of China's Liaison Office Building into a forbidden place for peaceful appeal. The Jiang regime denies civilians' right of appeal for those who suffered injustice in Mainland China. Some Hong Kong authorities wanted to do things to help the evil.
This time the practitioners tried to consult with the police and notified the Police Bureau of West District two days before the proposed activity. It was originally proposed that ten people would meditate for three hours in front of the gate. It was denied. This morning, some practitioners came to the site police designated for appeal beside the China's Liaison Office Building and consulted with the police again. Considering the pressure that the police have received from the Liaison Office, the practitioners proposed to shorten the activity in front of the gate to one hour. It was denied after the police asked for the permission from their supervisor. The practitioners further proposed to shorten the activity to half an hour and to have the participants take turns, but it was denied again. The practitioners requested to meet with the police officer in charge and this request was also denied. Finally, the practitioners proposed to hold a fifteen-minute demonstration with two practitioners holding a banner and one person reading the appeal letter, which is a request than that is usually granted when the police is under high political pressure, but it was denied again. The police said that upper level authorities issued an order disallowing activity in front of the China's Liaison Office Building. Thus, the police groundlessly denied the practitioners' request to practice their right of freedom of speech, assembly, and appeal.
The practitioners were not angered by the unreasonable action of the police and were not moved like everyday people to fall into the evil's trap. Over 20 practitioners sat peacefully in the designated appeal site 20 meters (about 60 ft) away from the front gate and sent forth righteous thought for three hours, in the middle of a rain shower and under the tight surveillance of many police. Regarding the authorities' mistreatment, out of compassion, the practitioners continue their peaceful, legal, and reasonable appeal to seek justice.
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Category: April 25 Events
