(Clearwisdom.net) on August 7, 2008, Falun Gong practitioners in South Australia held a rally in front of the state Parliament building and condemned the Chinese Communist Party's escalation of the persecution of Falun Gong under the pretext of Olympics.

The rally host Brian said that Chinese communist authorities unlawfully arrested at least 8037 Falun Gong practitioners in the first six months of this year, in so called "preparations for the Olympics." More than five hundred practitioners were arrested in Beijing and at least 30 were sentenced to 2 and a half years of imprisonment.

Practitioner Ms. Ma told of her experience in China. "I was an English teacher. Because I practiced Falun Gong, I was detained in a brainwashing session, attempting to force me to give up practicing Falun Gong. Those practitioners who did not agree were tortured, force-fed, or even killed. Tens of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been unlawfully arrested in the run up to the Olympics. Many were killed. I call on all governments and the world's people to pay attention to this issue and stop the bloody suppression."

Representatives from the National Civic Council, the Vietnamese Democratic Federation, and other human rights groups addressed the rally. They condemned the CCP for its failure to keep its 2001 promise to clean up it's human rights act, a promise made when it made its bid to host the 2008 Olympics. They also called on people to act together to stop the persecution.

A Chinese student passed by and stepped forward to express his support, "I support Falun Gong. I read information about Falun Gong in China. I especially like to watch NTDTV programs online." He expressed pity for his classmates who refuse acknowledge the truth about the persecution. "They are brainwashed by CCP and cannot tell CCP from China. I have democratic concepts and can think independently. Falun Gong practitioners should have their own rights of belief."

Before the rally, a Western youth distributed a flyer with a website carrying negative propaganda against Falun Gong. Practitioners advised him to stop. He did not listen. Another practitioner handed him a CD explaining how CCP thugs recently attacked practitioners in Flushing, New York, and advised him not to listen to CCP hate propaganda. He left with the CD. At the end of the rally, he came back and said he learned he was wrong. He then signed the petition calling for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong.