(Clearwisdom.net)
On August 15, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners from the U.S. held a press conference at the America's National Press Club, and delivered a statement regarding the conviction of the 16 Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong and the Cambodian government's deportation of two Falun Gong practitioners with refugee status granted by the United Nations.
Human rights and criminal defense attorney, Ms. Terry Marsh had just come back from Hong Kong, where she audited the trial. According to her observations, "The Hong Kong government provided no witnesses to prove the case. No one other than the police who carried out the arrest attested to any obstruction. The on-spot video footage taken during the incident showed that the walkway is fairly wide, spacious enough to let people pass without any obstruction." She said, "It is just as many people have observed, and it is indeed so, that the conviction of this trial was manufactured by the Beijing government."
It was reported that Falun Gong practitioners in Hong Kong will lodge an appeal against the verdict and at the same time, they will launch a civil suit against the Hong Kong police. Currently, they are looking for an attorney.
Falun Gong U.S. spokesman, Zhang Erping pointed out, "This verdict is wrong. It is a decision that harms Hong Kong's future." He stated that this verdict indicates that "Jiang's rules" have come to Hong Kong while the rule of law has left Hong Kong. He called on the Hong Kong government to respect its people's will and overthrow this wrong decision. He told reporters that human rights organizations and particularly, religious groups in Hong Kong are extremely concerned over the conviction. In addition, facts such as that the Hong Kong government refused to allow Falun Gong practitioners whose names appeared on the blacklist and other dissidents, including Wu Hongda, to enter the territory, showed that Hong Kong's freedom is shrinking.
Zhang Erping also said, "We feel very shocked to learn that under the pressure from Beijing, the Cambodian government deported a Chinese couple to Mainland, who are Falun Gong practitioners and had refugee status granted by the United Nations. We will lodge an appeal to the United Nations to discuss this with the Cambodian government and make efforts to rescue this couple from the Chinese detention center and let them go where they are supposed to."
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