Falun Dafa Minghui.org www.minghui.org PRINT

Falun Gong Practitioners in Northern California Gather to Commemorate Four-Year Anniversary of April 25th Peaceful Appeal (Photos)

April 26, 2003

(Clearwisdom.net) On April 25, 2003, Northern California Falun Gong practitioners held a large-scale peaceful appeal in front of the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco to commemorate the fourth anniversary of the grand peaceful appeal of more than 10, 000 Falun Gong practitioners on April 25th, 1999, and condemn Jiang regime's unreasonable persecution of Falun Gong practitioners over the past four years.

April 25th, 1999 is a special day with historic meaning. That day, in order to gain a free and righteous environment for their practice, more than 10, 000 Falun Gong practitioners came to the Appeals Bureau of the State Council in Beijing to hold a peaceful group appeal, requesting that the authorities release more than 40 Falun Gong practitioners who had been arbitrarily detained by the police in Tainjin City. With great compassion and tolerance, Falun Gong practitioners exercised their most fundamental rights as citizens and used the most peaceful manner to present the truth to the authorities. However, Jiang's regime, taking this as an excuse, abused its authority and launched an extensive and slanderous attack, using the most barbaric methods to brutally torture Falun Gong practitioners. Over the past four years, in order to speak the truth, millions of Falun Gong practitioners have paid a tremendous price, but they have continued to follow the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance." In the face of slander, lies and brutal torture, they have steadfastly persevered to expose the dictator's atrocities to the world.

The appeal activity began at 10:00 a.m. The practitioners sat opposite the Chinese Consulate to continuously send forth righteous thoughts. When it was getting dark, they lit candles to commemorate the hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners who have been tortured to death by Jiang's regime. The appeal lasted until 10:00 p.m.

The media, including AP, KPIX TV Station, the World Daily came to cover the activity.