November 22, 2001
Australian Falun Gong practitioners have spoken for the first time about their detention earlier this week in China.
Three of the four Australians detained in Beijing on Tuesday have arrived in Sydney.
Mirna Mack and Kay Belonogoff from Sydney and Kate Douglas from Melbourne were among 35 practitioners arrested after protesting in Tiananmen Square.
They returned to Australia this morning, speaking defiantly against the ban on the Falun Gong movement and calling on the support of the Australian Government.
Ms Douglas says the protesters were jailed before being moved to a hotel near Beijing's airport.
"We were locked in a tiny cell with no ventilation, 35 people we were deprived of our basic human rights and treated like criminals," she said.
Ms Douglas says a fourth Australian, Chris Cominos from Melbourne was badly beaten and bruised and has flown to Greece.
He is not expected to return to Australia for a month.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-22nov2001-75.htm
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
