(Minghui.org) Practitioners from Czechia and Slovakia gathered in Prague for group exercises outside the presidential compound at Prague Castle on March 5, 2022, the day before the Czecho-Slovak Falun Dafa Experience-Sharing Conference. Many tourists were attracted by the peaceful exercises, and some took photos and asked for more information.

A rally and a parade were held afterwards to introduce Falun Dafa to the public and tell people about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) decades-long persecution in China. Holding banners and posters, they marched from Prague Castle, through Old Town business streets, Charles Bridge, Old Town Square, and arrived at Wenceslas Square. Many pedestrians were impressed by the banners which had information like, “Falun Dafa is good,” and accepted materials.

Practitioners demonstrated the exercises outside the presidential office at Prague Castle on March 5, 2022.

Practitioners paraded from Prague Castle to Wenceslas Square.

After the parade, practitioners gathered at Wenceslas Square in New Town for a rally to raise awareness of the brutal suppression by the Chinese Communist Party in China. Many passersby said they liked the gentle movements and the peaceful exercises. Upon hearing about the atrocities by the CCP, especially organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners, many signed petitions calling for a stop to the severe human rights abuse.

Practitioners hand out information to tourists and local residents.

Passersby signed the petition to condemn the ongoing persecution in China.

While handing out information, practitioners explained that Falun Dafa is a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. To maintain its core values of brutality, hatred, and lies, the CCP has been suppressing various faith groups in China, especially Falun Dafa.

Many tourists and local residents were shocked to hear this. One man from Palestine said it was hard to imagine that crimes like this could happen in the modern world. Coming from Palestine, however, he knows communism well. “My heart stays with you practitioners,” he said.

One Czech father came with his children, and he explained to them what is going on in China. He told the practitioners that having lived in a communist society for 20 years, he wanted his children to know the real world instead of staying on computers or phones. After reading the materials, he and his children signed the petition.

A girl from Vietnam who is studying in Czechia said to the practitioners, “The atrocity in China is horrible and it leaves goosebumps all over me.” She thanked practitioners for telling people about this important matter. Many people were in tears upon hearing the mistreatment practitioners were subjected to in China for their belief.

Many Ukrainian citizens came by asking about Falun Dafa and signed the petition. When a young Ukrainian woman signed it she said she was sad because of the war in her country. A practitioner gave her a hand-made lotus flower with the words, “Falun Dafa” and “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” and wished her well.

Another young woman said she could not understand why the CCP persecutes practitioners like this, “You just want to be good people after all.” She hopes the persecution ends soon so that practitioners in China can freely practice their belief.

Background: What is Falun Dafa?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and learned the five gentle exercises have experienced uplifted health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party, perceived the spiritual discipline's growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology, and on July 20, 1999, issued an order to ban the practice.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 22 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. More have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply the organ transplant industry.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.