February 18, 2002

BEIJING, Feb 18, 2002 -- (dpa) China on Monday expelled two Swedish and one German Falun Gong followers who were detained in Beijing's Tiananmen Square last week.

The three deported on Monday were among six detained foreigners who had refused to give their name or nationality last week.

Another 53 Falun Gong protesters, including 33 U.S., seven German and five Canadian citizens, were deported after the protest last week.

Three Swedish protesters had hidden their passports and only agreed to give them to police once they were granted access to consular staff, a Swedish embassy spokeswoman said.

Embassy staff met the three individually for about 30 minutes, the spokeswoman said.

Two of the three left China on Monday and the third was scheduled to leave on Tuesday, she said.

A German Falun Gong member, who was reported missing after the protests, was also deported on Monday, embassy officials said.

The nationalities of the two other foreigners detained since last week remain unknown.

[...]

The protest was the largest staged in China by foreign Falun Gong members and followed a similar one last November, when 35 foreign Falun Gong members were arrested and deported.

A Falun Gong statement said the group wanted to protest against China "trampling on human rights" by mounting a "persecution campaign" and torturing detained practitioners of the spiritual movement, which is banned in China.

http://www.europeaninternet.com/china/news.php3?id=1358348