BEIJING, May 13

A lone Western Falungong protestor flew a banner in a demonstration on Tiananmen Square Monday, the 10th anniversary of the first public introduction of the Buddhist-based spiritual practice in China.

The man sat under a lamppost on the vast plaza in central Beijing for about 20 to 30 minutes when exactly at 2:00 pm (0600 GMT) he got up and walked to the middle of the square, pulled out a banner and shouted a slogan, according to an AFP reporter who witnessed the protest.

He was immediately tackled by three uniformed police officers in a matter of seconds. One of the officers moved so fast that he fell to the ground. [...]

He is believed to be Martial Bachoffner, 34, a French national living in Montreal who travelled to Beijing for the first time last week.

Bachoffner had said Sunday he planned to protest on the square to mark the 10th anniversary of the first-ever Falungong conference held in China.

"Everyday some practitioner in China is tortured to death by the Chinese government. We have to do something because people are killed for believing in Falungong," Bachoffner told AFP, explaining why he wanted to protest.

May 13 is also considered World Falun Dafa Day by the Falungong and the birthday of Falungong's founder Li Hongzhi [...]

[...]

Human rights groups estimate that hundreds of Falungong followers have been given jail terms and tens of thousands sent to labour camps without trial since China banned the group [...] in July 1999.