Title: ma010906toronto.HTM HTML-GB Webpage Attention: News / Assignment / Photo Editors:
MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release: September 6, 2001
440 km walk to Ottawa to Appeal
for Falun Gong Practitioners Persecuted in China
TORONTO - On Friday, September 7, five women will hold a news conference before they start a 440km journey on foot from Toronto City Hall to the Ottawa parliament buildings to deliver signatures gathered from fellow Canadians who call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong in China. This is part of the SOS Global Walk taking place in U.S., Europe, Australia, Asia etc.
Practitioners will request the Prime Minister to make every effort to secure the release of illegally imprisoned practitioner Shenli Lin, husband of Canadian Citizen, and urge the President of China to end the brutal persecution of Falun Gong on his trip to China next month.
The journey symbolizes the courageous, determined efforts of hundreds of thousands who have demonstrated in China, and is an appeal for the immediate release of all in China who are jailed, tortured and even killed for their practice of Falun Gong.
After the Toronto to Ottawa leg of the SOS Global Walk is completed, practitioners will walk to the United Nations in New York City to appeal.
News Conference:
Friday, September 7, 11am. Outside of Toronto City Hall (Queen and Bay)
The team of five walkers will speak about their motivation for the walk to Ottawa. Interviews available. The walkers are Danielle Zhu, Carolyn Jin, Cathy Hu, Lily Wang, and Yuxue Li.
Contact: Cindy Gu: 416-494-6002, 416-419-9981 cell, or Joel Chipkar 416-709-8678 cell
Background:
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a self-improvement practice for the mind and body. It was introduced to the public in 1992 by Mr. Li Hongzhi. Since then, millions of individuals around the world have taken up the peaceful, meditative practice.
Fearful that the huge popularity of Falun Gong might undermine the atheistic communist ideology, in July of 1999 the Jiang Zemin government began a brutal persecution against this peaceful, non-political spiritual practice. In the last two years, at least 270 people have been killed by police. 100,000 have been sent to labor camps for indefinite terms without trials, where they are routinely beaten, shocked with electric batons, sexually abused, and subjected to countless other brutal measures. Hundreds more have been sentenced to long prison sentences in ?show trials,? and at least a thousand have been sent to Mental Hospitals to be abused with dangerous drugs. Jiang Zemin has stated, ?no measures are too excessive to exterminate Falun Gong,? and that ?those who are beaten to death will be counted as suicides.? The toll of human suffering cannot accurately be measured. All segments of society are subjected to constant hate propaganda from the state-controlled media and are often forced against their will to take part in the persecution. ___________________________________________________________________________ For background on the spiritual practice and the crisis in China, please visit http://falundafa.ca/infocentre To subscribe, unsubscribe or change the delivery mode, please visit http://mulist.cjb.net ___________________________________________________________________________
