(Clearwisdom.net) On the afternoon of August 3, 2002, Falun Gong practitioners from Los Angeles and San Diego held a press conference in front of the Chinese Consulate in Los Angeles to expose the persecution against Hong Kong Falun Gong practitioners. Radio Free Asia and the Epoch Times newspaper conducted interviews.

The practitioners told the reporters that in March of 2002, four Falun Gong practitioners from Switzerland were barred from entering China because their names appeared on a "blacklist." To protest this blatant human rights violation, these Swiss practitioners and some local Hong Kong practitioners held a peaceful appeal on the sidewalk facing the Chinese Liaison Office in Hong Kong. Because of pressure from Jiang's regime, Hong Kong policemen used violence to arrest the practitioners without warrants, and now they have turned around to accuse these practitioners of "attacking the police."

Practitioners showed reporters some photos of the site before and after the incident and played a video of the whole event. The photo clearly showed that the practitioners only occupied a very small part of the wide sidewalk. The scene was peaceful and did not block any traffic or pedestrians. After many policemen arrived, their rude demands and violence broke up the peaceful scene. The police didn't show any legal documents during the arrest, and the video showed that many times several policemen grabbed one practitioner's neck and forcefully gouging acupuncture points. During the trial, the judge was obviously biased, openly siding with the prosecutor and treating the defense lawyer rudely.

Hong Kong was returned to China under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy. But in the past five years, the promised democracy and freedom have been eroded severely. This has already caused many democratic countries and people to feel uneasy, and clouded the future of Hong Kong. Falun Gong practitioners of Southern California called on the Hong Kong government to correct their mistakes and protect the rights and freedom of the Hong Kong people. They also called on people everywhere to recognize this sham trial for what it is and speak out using their voices of justice.