Media Update from Falun Gong Practitioners in Canada
January 10, 2001
Due to international pressure, the Chinese Government has released Canadian Citizen Professor KunLun Zhang from a labour camp in China on January 10, 2001, after two months of mental and physical abuses.
However, because the persecution of Falun Gong still exists, Mr. Zhang's safety is still not guaranteed. Professor Zhang had been detained and released on three previous occasions already. His fourth arrest could happen at any time.
Professor Zhang said in a telephone conversation to his daughter Lingdi in Ottawa earlier today that he did not renounce Falun Gong and he still holds strong to his belief in Falun Gong and its principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance.
Mr. KunLun Zhang was sentenced to 3 years in a "reeducation center" on November 15, 2000 for practicing peaceful Falun Gong exercises in a park.
At least 107 peaceful Falun Gong practitioners have died of brutal torture in police custody during these "Reeducation programs." The Chinese government continues to violate international human rights treaties and its own laws.
We thank our Canadian government, human rights groups such as AmnestyInternational, many kind hearted people, and special thanks to International Human rights lawyer MP Mr Irwin Cotler (the legal counsel for Mr. Zhang) for your support of justice and your help in Mr. Zhang's release. Your efforts indeed made a difference. However, thousands upon thousands of innocent Falun Gong practitioners are still being tortured and beaten and killed in these labour camps in China everyday. International support and pressure is still needed to stop the persecution of Falun Gong.
For more information, please contact:
Joel Chipkar (Toronto): 416-622-1959 (home) 416-709-8678 (cell)
Cindy Gu (Toronto): 416-494-6002 (home) 416-419-9981 (cell)
LingDi Zhang (Ottawa): 613-239-0587 (home) 613-325-7065 (cell)
For More Information on Falun Gong, China's persecution, and world-wide support of Falun Gong's peaceful appeal, please check www.FalunInfo.net