(Clearwisdom.net) On April 24, 2004, more than 100 Falun Gong practitioners from the Midwestern United States gathered once again in front of the Chinese Consulate in Chicago to commemorate the grand peaceful appeal by more than 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing five years ago.
On April 25, 1999, over 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners gathered in Beijing to peacefully petition the central government. The peacefulness, rationality, strict self-discipline and high social morality manifested by these practitioners impressed the entire world. On July 20 the same year, Jiang's group started its furious campaign of suppression against Falun Gong. Since then, practitioners throughout the world began their journey of Fa-rectification to expose the deceptions and save sentient beings. Over the past five years, it has been verified that at least 953 practitioners of Falun Gong have died from the persecution in China. On the other hand, Falun Dafa and its principles of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance" have also spread to the entire world.
In the early spring, it is still cold in Chicago. Practitioners divided into two groups and held commemorative activities outside the Chinese Consulate and in Chinatown, respectively. In front of the Chinese Consulate, practitioners unfurled banners that read, "Commemorate the Fifth Anniversary of Falun Gong Practitioners' Peaceful Appeal" and "Falun Dafa Is Great!" They sent forth righteous thoughts and distributed truth-clarifying materials to passersby despite the cold wind. In the afternoon, at the set time when practitioners all over the world synchronously sent forth righteous thoughts, all local practitioners met in front of the Chinese Consulate. Although it started raining hard in Chicago, practitioners persistently sent forth righteous thoughts and practiced the Falun Gong exercises to clear away the evil entities in other dimensions, to awaken justice and conscience deep down in peoples' hearts, and to call for an end to the ongoing oppression of Falun Gong.
Mr. Lu, a senior citizen currently living in Chicago participated in the grand 4.25 peaceful appeal in Beijing five years ago. He recollected, "Five years ago, I had just begun my practice of Falun Gong. One morning, when I went to the practice site as usual, I heard that more than 40 fellow practitioners were unreasonably beaten and arrested. Many people had already gone to the Appeal Office of the State Council to report the situation and appeal for them. Although I was a beginner, I felt that Falun Dafa was so good! How could they treat practitioners this way-- Thus, my wife and I also decided to go to the Appeal Office to express our concerns. When we got there, many, many practitioners were already there. What impressed me so much was the order of practitioners. No one talked. They quietly stood or sat there. Some were reading Dafa books, some were trying to memorize Teacher's articles. Even when some police officers incited us by saying, "Show your protest banners!" practitioners were not moved at all. They were all quietly reading the books. We simply wished the government to correctly treat Falun Gong and its practitioners."
History will always remember April 25, 1999. Bearing trust towards the government, Falun Gong practitioners rationally and peacefully transmitted the voice of the people to state leaders. The Premier at that time successfully resolved the issue. Unfortunately, out of his own interest, the jealous Jiang Zemin insisted in suppressing Falun Gong and on July 20 of the same year, he launched the brutal campaign of persecution against the innocent Falun Gong practitioners who cultivate themselves according to "Truthfulness-Compassion-Tolerance".
To safeguard justice in the human world and stop the evil persecution, practitioners from different countries filed lawsuits in succession against Jiang Zemin and other perpetrators in the persecution of Falun Gong. On October 22, 2002, after the persecution had lasted for 3 years, practitioners filed a lawsuit charging Jiang Zemin with genocide, torture and crimes against humanity in the U.S. district Court of the Northern District of Illinois during Jiang's stay in Chicago. In June 2003, 38 U.S. members of Congress submitted an amicus brief to the Chicago federal court to support Falun Gong practitioners' lawsuit. On January 20, 2004, the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals accepted Falun Gong practitioners' brief of appeal.
Talking about the lawsuit, practitioner Mr. Xu said, "Five years have pasted since the 4.25 appeal. However, the persecution is still going on. New reports about practitioners' deaths due to the persecution are received every day. Therefore, our activities in prosecuting Jiang will not end. We are determined to put Jiang on trial in the courts of conscience, morality and law to bring him to justice and to stop the persecution."
Category: April 25 Events
