(Minghui.org) From June 21 to June 23, 2024, Falun Dafa practitioners from across the country held their second national gathering of 2024 in Varna, the Black Sea Capital of Bulgaria.
Odessos, Odyssopolis, and Tiberiopolis are steeped in ancient history and the seaside town Varna is a popular attraction in the summer for tourists from Bulgaria and around the world.
Petition Drive in the Center of Varna
On the afternoons of June 21 and 22, practitioners gathered at Sevastopol Square in the center of Varna and set up banners and an information booth. They had two petitions for passersby to sign—one asks that the United Nations Human Rights Council take action against the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) forced organ harvesting from Falun Dafa practitioners, and the other condemns the CCP for its human rights abuses. Passersby stopped to ask about the situation in China, sign the petitions, and voice their support.
Telling people about the persecution during an event at Sevastopol Square on the afternoon of June 21
Stelia is the sister of a practitioner and is concerned about the brutality practitioners in China face. She brought her friends to sign both petitions to end the persecution.
Stelia came to support her brother who practices Falun Dafa.
Ljubka signed in support of the practitioners’ cause.
Martin, the son of a practitioner, did not hesitate to sign both petitions to show his support.
Karoline from Poland encouraged practitioners and said, “What you are doing is great! This persecution must stop!”
On June 22 people read the leaflets and waited patiently to sign both petitions.
Dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova said, “I am a doctor, I cannot be indifferent and unconcerned about the suffering of the persecuted.” She signed both petitions to express her support.
Dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova (first from left) signed both petitions.
After hearing about the persecution and illegal organ harvesting from Falun Dafa practitioners in China, Elena and Evelina signed the petitions and said, “The CCP are criminals. They must be stopped! Thank you and good luck!”
Elena and Evelina signed the petitions.
Valentina and Nuri were on vacation and said they were drawn to the event. “The practitioner explained very well about forced organ harvesting, and that we should support the petition to help stop this violence,” Nuri said after signing the petition.
Svetlana is from Ukraine but has lived in Varna for 50 years. She and her friends were passing by the stand and were attracted by the crowd. She supported both petitions after learning the facts about the atrocities against Falun Dafa practitioners in China. She was interested in Falun Dafa and visited the practitioners in the park on June 23 to learn the exercises.
Svetlana signed the petition and decided to learn the exercises.
Motorcade Helps Tell People About the Persecution
On the evening of June 21, practitioners held a 14-car procession that passed through all the central boulevards and streets of Varna. Each car was outfitted with an informational display pyramid on top, with messages in Bulgarian about the persecution and the CCP’s track record of violating human rights, such as: “The CCP is using torture and murder to destroy Falun Gong”; “The CCP is committing large-scale medical genocide”; “The CCP’s goal is world domination; Enslavement and plunder disguised as investment”; “Covid’s initial cover-up led to a pandemic.”
On every pyramid, there were calls to support the petition condemning the CCP for its human rights abuses. On some of the banners were the iconic photograph of “tank man” from the Tiananmen Square Massacre, as well as pictures of physical brutality against Dafa practitioners in China.
There were also banners with messages about Falun Dafa, with the words Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance written in both English and Chinese; on one of the cars the banner read, “Falun Dafa - An Ancient Practice for Cultivating Spirit and Body.” The procession also played messages through loudspeakers explaining what Falun Dafa is and the persecution in China.
Practitioners held a 14-car procession on the evening of June 21 that passed through busy streets, attracting many peoples’ attention. (Screenshot courtesy Varna Utre)
Doing the Exercises and Studying the Teachings
Practitioners did the exercises together in a park to demonstrate the beauty of Falun Dafa.
Practitioners did the exercises on June 22 and 23 in Varna’s Sea Garden Park. Many passersby picked up flyers to learn more about Falun Dafa, and some of them immediately sat down and read the information.
Svetlana and Alexander, who signed the petition the day before, came to the park to join the practitioners in doing the exercises on the morning of June 23. They both said that they felt energy when they did the exercises.
Practitioners read the Fa teachings.
The exercises on both days were followed by sessions to study the teachings of Falun Dafa in the conference hall of the Black Sea Hotel. The practitioners studied Zhuan Falun, the main book of Falun Dafa’s teachings, and then shared their understandings of what they read. They also discussed recent events in their lives and how they dealt with them according to Falun Dafa’s standards.
Coverage by Bulgarian Media
The practitioners’ informational events were covered extensively by two popular local media outlets, Varna Utre (Varna Tomorrow) and Cherno More. Both outlets documented the facts of the persecution of Falun Dafa in China, and how the practitioners have been victims of forced organ harvesting.
Varna Utre’s article about the motorcade (Screenshot courtesy Varna Utre).
“Millions of people in China are detained in labor camps, prisons and brainwashing centers. Tens of thousands of them have been killed because of the organ trade. In their 600-page report, Bloody Harvest - The Massacre: 2016 Update, international human rights activists David Kilgore, David Matas and Ethan Gutmann gathered over 2,300 pieces of evidence and concluded that between 1999 and 2015, between 60,000 and 100,000 transplants were performed annually in China,” reported Cherno More.
“Falun Dafa is currently practiced in 114 countries around the world, and the call for an end to the ongoing repression in China remains relevant today,” said the Varna Utre report.
Cherno More’s coverage of the motorcade (Screenshot courtesy Cherno More).
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