(Minghui.org) Practitioners rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in Athens to protest the Chinese regime’s 25-year-long persecution of Falun Dafa in China. A representative from the Greece Falun Dafa Association and Doctors Against Forced Organ Harvesting (DAFOH) and a practitioner spoke at the rally on October 3, 2024. They condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) crimes against humanity and the systemic forced organ harvesting from living practitioners who were incarcerated for refusing to give up the practice. Practitioners came from Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Cypress, and Greece to help raise public awareness of the persecution and called on the CCP to end the persecution.

Practitioners peacefully rallied in front of the Chinese Consulate in Athens on October 3, 2024.

The Chinese Regime Must End the Persecution Immediately

Giorgos Tzokas represented the Greece Falun Dafa Association at the rally. In his speech he said, “We are here today to expose the brutal persecution launched by the CCP to eliminate Falun Dafa, and the human rights violations taking place in China.”

Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, introduced the practice to the public in May 1992. The principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance help the practitioners improve their health and moral values. Seven years after it was introduced, the number of practitioners exceeded 100 million. On July 20, 1999, the then Chinese leader Jiang Zemin ordered the practice to be suppressed after the number of practitioners exceeded the number of CCP members.

Mr. Tzokas demanded the CCP immediately end the persecution, and release the thousands of prisoners of conscience who are still detained.

Support for Practitioners’ Tireless Effort to End the Persecution

Ms. Wang Jiaen described how the CCP persecutes practitioners. The tactics include kidnapping, incarceration in prisons, forced labor camps, and brainwashing centers, torture, killing, expulsion from work, fines, and home ransacking. The Party also systematically harvests organs from living practitioners and then sells them for big profits.

She said, “Despite the persecution, practitioners protest peacefully. Their unyielding spirit inspired the world’s people and organizations to speak out and seek justice for them.” In recent years, an increasing number of people publicly condemned the CCP and help practitioners clarify the truth. Several organizations performed independent investigations, and proved that the forced organ harvesting exists in China on a large scale.

Ms. Wang mentioned several resolutions passed by U.S. and European governments to support Falun Dafa practitioners:

In 2013 the European Parliament passed a resolution (2013/2981 (RSP)) to condemn forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China, a large majority of whom are Falun Gong practitioners.

In 2016 the United States House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution (H. Res. 343) to call on the CCP to immediately stop forced organ harvesting from Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience.

On June 25, 2024 the United States House of Representatives passed H.R. 4132, the Falun Gong Protection Act, in a unanimous voice vote. It stipulated the sanctions for those who participate in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Wang urged those people who participated in the persecution of Falun Dafa to stop what they are doing, and choose a good future for themselves. “We call on Chinese people to desert the CCP. Only then will there be hope, security, and a bright future for generations of Chinese people.”

DAFOH Condemns the CCP’s Crime of Genocide

Ms. Effie Gana represented DAFOH. She condemned the CCP for its brutal killing of Falun Dafa practitioners. “We gathered here today to denounce the most important genocide of the 21st century - the forced organ harvesting that is currently taking place in China - organized by the Chinese regime,” she said, “Its thriving transplant industry has been built on the blood and bodies of Falun Gong practitioners, the largest group the regime persecutes and uses for their organs, both because of their health and because it has vilified and seeks to exterminate them for their beliefs.”

Ms. Effie called on everyone to “act today, and save a life today.” She urged everyone to sign the petition to stop the CCP’s systemic organ harvesting.

Passersby Express Their Support for Practitioners’ Efforts

A truck driver slowed down to take a flier from a practitioner. The driver said, “I know Falun Dafa. I saw your activity here last year. Keep it up.”

A man stopped his car and listened to a practitioner. After he was told about the persecution, he pointed at the Chinese Consulate and said, “You must be careful with it, very careful. Be safe. Good luck.”

A woman stopped her car to read the practitioners’ posters. She took a flier from a practitioner and said loudly, “(The CCP) should stop (the persecution), I agree with you.”

Showing Support for Fellow Practitioners in China

Mr. Marlen Karletidou (first on left) became healthy after she began practicing Falun Dafa.

Ms. Marlen Karletidou is a fine arts professional from Cyprus, and won a prize in drawing at the 18th Biennale of Alexandria, Egypt in 1994. She began practicing Falun Dafa 12 years ago. “When I found Falun Dafa I felt as if I was reborn,” she said. As she continued to practice, her body became light and energetic, and “I let go of bad thoughts and bad feelings towards other people.”

Wanting to support the millions of Falun Dafa practitioners in China who suffer in the persecution, she came to the rally. “I attended the event in front of the Chinese Consulate to support the millions of practitioners in China who are persecuted because they practice Falun Dafa, a peaceful meditation practice for body and mind. I also want to tell the public about the 25 years of ongoing persecution and the forced organ harvesting from living practitioners in China.”