(Clearwisdom.net) May 31, 2002 - Friends, relatives and fellow practitioners were on hand to greet Nicole Milot on her arrival at the Gare du Palais bus station in her home of Quebec City, Canada, at two o'clock yesterday afternoon. Mrs. Milot was arriving home from a trip to China where she was arrested before she could manage to unfurl a banner reading, "Falun Dafa is good. China needs Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance," as part of her peaceful appeal on Beijing's Tiananmen Square.

Mrs. Milot and her husband warmly embraced as she stepped off the bus. He had been worried about her well-being since he had received a phone call playing back a recording of a woman being beaten and crying for help.

Local media had reported her disappearance the day before. At the time, a local Falun Gong practitioner who had been in daily contact with her had not heard from her since Monday at 6 p.m. "She had told me she would be going to Tiananmen Square that afternoon, and would call as soon as possible thereafter," the practitioner explained. "On Wednesday at 9 p.m., I finally I was told by the Canadian Embassy in Beijing that she had been arrested and deported the day before."

Mrs. Milot was arrested just before being able to make her peaceful appeal for an end to the ban and persecution of Falun Gong. She told how police officers had been watching her as she walked onto the Square and soon after approached and searched her bags. They arrested her after finding a copy of Zhuan Falun that she had concealed in her bag. Surrounded by several police officers, she attempted to run past them and unfurl her banner, but was rather brutally restrained, leaving red marks on her wrists.

Ms. Milot was detained several hours in a dirty cell filled with many insects that repeatedly bit her feet. She was denied the right to contact the Canadian Embassy in Beijing. She was later put on a plane and returned to Montreal, via Vancouver, where she met local practitioners.

Representatives of all major local media outlets were present as Mrs. Milot arrived in Quebec City. Local television stations TVA, TQS and Radio-Canada as well as the two Quebec City Newspapers, Le Soleil and le Journal de Québec, greeted her as she stepped off of the bus.